Reformed
by nefieslab
Summary: Something happened to Ichigo. He lost himself the same day he lost his life. The captain commander has given him a new one. But will he accept it? Ichigo based pairing subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** Bleach and its characters are owned by some guy whose name escapes me. The point is that it isn't owned by me.**

**This is my first attempt at a Bleach story with only canon characters so be kind! **

Code Yellow

The assembled captains and their allies, the ryoka and the vizards, continued their stare down with the traitors. Kurosaki Ichigo had even managed to used his hollow powers and created a portal that allowed the remaining captains to escape to the real world, providing much needed support to the captains already stationed in the fake town. The captain commander pointed his unsheathed sword directly at Aizen, seemingly ignoring Gin and Tosen,

"Former-captain Aizen. The day is lost for you and your traitorous allies." He narrowed his eyes even more than they normally were, "You will come with us and be executed in soul society as traitors."

Gin chuckled a little behind his perpetual grin,

"I'm sorry commander Yamamoto. But it's just so funny!" he declared before chuckling to himself again. In between Tosen and Gin, Aizen just stood there with his half smile. Commander Yamamoto's eyes opened a little wider,

"You may be a prodigy Ichimaru but I can still incinerate you with a thought." He narrowed his eyes again, "Don't overestimate your strengths."

Aizen spoke for the first time,

"He's not overestimating his strengths at all captain commander." His smile grew wider and he waved his hand slightly, "He's accurately estimated your weakness."

Before any of the captains could react, the ryoka were snatched from between their ranks. The captain commander's eyes widened slightly, this time with shock, as the Espada Starrk and Harribel appeared behind Aizen, three captives in their grasp. As he watched, Starrk fired two point blank ceros from his pistols. Immediately, the Quincy boy and the ryoka with the strange arm disappeared in a red haze of cero and blood. The substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, was screaming something to his right but the captain commander had already assessed the situation as hopeless. The enemy had Inoue Orihime at the edge of the third Espada's Zanpakuto. A very valuable hostage to be sure. And they had the best escape method waiting for them. Starrk stood by the gaping hole in existence,

"Hey boss, we should get going." He suggested, a bored air about him for someone that had just executed two people. Aizen nodded,

"You are right of course Starrk. Off we go back home. Oh-" He turned slightly to look at Kurosaki Ichigo, "I do hope you have buried Renji and Rukia. I don't want to have to see their mangled corpses. Yammi always was such a messy creature…"

An impossibly loud scream erupted from the substitute Shinigami beside him and Commander Yamamoto saw him preparing to shoot off towards Aizen's retreating back. He held out a hand to stop the boy,

"Kurosaki, you mustn't attack. They're already going through to Las Noches. You'll never make it before the portal clos-" he stopped talking abruptly when the orange haired youth shot past him with speed that not even the thoroughly experienced Yoruichi could muster. He turned quickly and watched as Kurosaki Ichigo flew at the rapidly closing gateway to the hollow world. The gap was closing too quickly, not even the boy's impressive Shunpo was going to be enough to get him through. Surely the boy realised that the hole would close too soon for him to make it through?

If he did then he was ignoring the fact pretty well. The boy's speed increased yet again, something that the laws of physics should have made impossible. Yamamoto watched with carefully concealed amazement as the teenager extended his sword arm outwards and into the portal. His arm followed shortly afterwards but then disaster struck. Just as the boy's head was halfway through the portal it closed abruptly. Light exploded from Kurosaki Ichigo's head and his sword arm reappeared. With a slightly flicker, the light vanished. And Kurosaki Ichigo fell like a stone.

Acting quickly, Yamamoto shunpo'd through the air as fast as he could. He caught the young Shinigami easily and slapped him across the face rather harshly. The boy's eyelids fluttered open but the eyes themselves were rolled up into the back of his head. The captain commander shook the youth briskly and watched as the boy's head simply lolled from side to side. Yamamoto's eye narrowed in anger,

"Captain Kurotsuchi!" he said, raising his voice slightly. Mayuri Kurotsuchi appeared by his side in a flash of Shunpo, not even he was arrogant enough to be idle when the captain commander raised his voice. He bowed his head,

"Yes, Captain Commander?" he asked respectfully. Yamamoto could tell that the respectful tone stung the painted man's tongue but he didn't care,

"You will return to soul society immediately and take Kurosaki Ichigo with you to your laboratory." He commanded bluntly. Kurotsuchi's eyes widened with joy,

"A new test subject? Why thank-"

"You are only going to see what the problem is." He said sternly. Kurotsuchi deflated slightly,

"And why would you want me to do such a thing? The worthless healers of the 4th division would suffice for such a trivial task." He noted, the distain he was famous for returning even in the presence of the Captain Commander. Yamamoto nodded,

"But they will not **add** to his health." He commented with a sideways look at the scientist. Mayuri smiled again,

"You mean code yellow?" he inquired, childlike glee escaping into his tone. Yamamoto nodded briskly as he handed the limp teenager over,

"Make sure you do not harm him." He warned coldly. Kurotsuchi nodded absently,

"Yes, yes, he has to be willing to help us. Nemu!" he called out to his vice-captain. Yamamoto watched with disinterest as the 12th division captain handed Kurosaki's limp form to his female clone. He stood still as they both disappeared in a flurry of flash steps.

"You're going to destroy him." Unohana said coldly from behind him. Yamamoto closed his eyes,

"Yes I am." He agreed, a sigh escaping him as he did so. Unohana shook her head, a frowned marring her otherwise benign appearance,

"If you weren't dead already I'd say you'd lost your soul." She muttered darkly. Yamamoto sighed again,

"I'm feeling bad enough as it is without you chipping away at me Retsu. That boy is the hope of soul society and the world of the living. And we may not even have to resort to code yellow." He explained, opening his eyes only slightly as his age seemed to catch up with him all at once. Unohana turned away,

"So he's ours now? Willing or unwilling?"

"Sense for them Retsu."

"Who?"

"Anyone."

"I don't follow."

"His family is gone as well. I can feel it, and you can too."

"…"

"His friends are either dead or held captive, most likely with suicidal tendencies by now, by our enemy. He has nothing left. If we have to use it… code yellow will give him a life."

"But it'll never be his."

"Goodbye Retsu, I believe Captain Soifon needs her shoulder looked at."

"Of course. Goodbye Commander."

--

Captain Commander Yamamoto was cold. With the most powerful fire type Zanpakuto at his hip he'd always been warmed just by its proximity. But not now. Not while he stared down at the lifeless figure on the steel table. Not while he looked into those glazed eyes. He tore his gaze from the figure on the table before him and looked up at Captain Kurotsuchi,

"You're sure about the results?" he asked the scientist. Captain Kurotsuchi nodded with his sickening grin still in place,

"I've run the tests over and over again Commander. But all the results show the same thing. Kurosaki Ichigo had lost all his memories. He barely has enough to remember how to breathe." He explained, still inspecting Kurosaki's body as if it were a great treasure. Yamamoto nodded slowly,

"Then I authorise a code yellow." He said quietly. Luckily Kurotsuchi had been waiting patiently for the words so the fact that they were almost too quiet to hear was of no concern to him. He chuckled to himself as he attached the pads to Kurosaki's temples. With uncontained glee he walked over to a giant switch. Yamamoto looked down at Kurosaki, noting how shallow his breathing was. He looked up again and nodded. Kurotsuchi grinned even more and flicked the switch.

Nothing happened.

Yamamoto was about to speak when a cough startled him. He looked down at the table again to see that Kurosaki was having a coughing fit, his eyes closed tightly and his limps trashing weakly. The Captain Commander nodded to Kurotsuchi again and the scientist injected something into the youth's arm. After a few seconds Kurosaki stopped coughing and grew still, his breathing the deep and controlled breathing of the sleeping. Yamamoto glared at the 12th division captain,

"Have your vice-captain give me a thorough re-working. His hair colour will have to change. All of the captains and vice-captains will know of the code yellow that took place here but the masses must not recognise him. Is that clear?" he asked the painted man. Kurotsuchi nodded and Nemu Kurotsuchi appeared beside her father in a kneeling position,

"I'm sure she heard all of that." He said with a small grin. Yamamoto was disgusted when he realised he'd seen the same type of grin on well-sexed men. The Captain Commander pointed a finger at the man,

"And he must never enter this laboratory while awake. It may awaken memories of his… formation." He added. Kurotsuchi nodded,

"He'll be joining the 6th division as its new vice-captain anyway. I'm sure he'll never even find the need to come here." He replied, trying to leave the matter. Yamamoto nodded,

"Very well. Remember his new appearance."

--

Ichigo Kurosaki woke up with a yawn and a stretch. His eyes still closed, he ran his fingers through his hair as he swung his legs out over the edge of his bed. Opening his eyes along the way, he stood up from his bed and made his way over to his room's wash basin and mirror. Dipping his hands in the cold water he sighed before whipping his face with his dripping hands. Invigorated, he looked at himself in the mirror and set about getting his appearance ready for the day. His shoulder length, black, hair was messy and untamed as it normally was and his blue eyes were clear of sleep or bags. Yep. Everything was normal for his first day as vice-captain of the 6th division.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** Bleach and its characters are owned by some guy whose name escapes me. The point is that it isn't owned by me.**

**Note:**** Managed to fit some comic relief in this chapter. Mainly because it has Matsumoto in it and she's just awesome to write about.**

Working Class Hero

Ichigo cursed his luck as he skidded to a halt in front of the large wooden door that would grant him access to the hall used for the Captain's meetings. He pushed the door open and was immediately rewarded with a loud, childish, scream of joy,

"Ichi!" came the cry from the pink haired vice-captain of the 11th division, Yachiru. Ichigo laughed as she flew through the air to grab hold of his shoulders,

"Hello Yachiru." He greeted the small Shinigami. The little girl dropped from Ichigo's shoulders and held out her hand,

"Come stand next to me Ichi!" she asked him with pleading eyes. Ichigo chuckled as he took her hand and was dragged across the room to stand in one of the two lines. As he found himself pressed between Nemu Kurotsuchi and Yachiru he knew that this wasn't going to be a fun meeting. But thank god it was only a vice-captain's meeting. This was only his second vice-captain's meeting but he already knew how the entire thing was going to go. Having lost four vice-captains in the First Winter War, including the 1st division's vice-captain, the duties had been rearranged a bit. Nanao Ise was now recognized as the head of the meeting, replacing the dead 1st division vice-captain. Snacks for the meeting were now part of Nemu Kurotsuchi's duties after Omaeda had been killed. Luckily for Ichigo his predecessor, one vice-captain Abarai, had been able to avoid getting himself any duties that would pass on with him. The same could not be said of the late vice-captain Hinamori.

As far as Ichigo could figure she must have been an amazing woman to juggle all of the duties she had been given. She acted as a stand-in captain for the 5th division while handling all forms of communication within Soul Society and arranging every vice-captain's meeting. Her entire division was trying, and failing for the most part, with her duties to the 5th division and her vice-captain's duties had been given to Isane, vice-captain of the 4th division. Ichigo looked away from the bouncing Yachiru to spare a glance at the tired looking vice-captain. He'd have to take her out to dinner sometime. She looked thinner than she should be. It was while he was turning his head back to Yachiru when he realized that Nanao had been talking since he'd entered. He went pale at the prospect of having to return to Captain Kuchiki without a thorough report of the meeting but sighed with relief when he noticed that Kira was writing down the minutes. He turned back to Yachiru again and began their thumb war again. When he heard the droning that was Nanao's voice stop he looked up. Rangiku bounced into the centre of the room, distracting Ichigo long enough for his thumb to be pinned. He scowled a little before turning to look at Rangiku. Her news was bound to be more entertaining than Nanao's. Sure enough, Rangiku was bouncing with excitement,

"It's the best time of any year!" she squealed in delight. The other vice-captain's nodded their agreement, except Nanao. Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"Christmas already?" he joked, trying to hide the fact that he was genuinely in the dark on this front. Matsumoto giggled,

"Keep guessing!" she teased him. Ichigo frowned as he tried to think of another happy event, oblivious to the chuckles of the other vice-captains. He blinked,

"I got nothing." He looked around the room and saw everyone except Nanao and Nemu staring at him with wide grins, "What?"

Matsumoto, the person with the widest grin of all, giggled again,

"You're initiation silly!" she replied happily with another bounce. Ichigo took a step back, cautious,

"This isn't going to be some type of ridiculous practical joke is it?" he asked, eyeing everyone in the room warily. Hisagi, one of Ichigo's best friends, shook his head,

"Nothing like that Ichigo. Its something that you can enjoy as well." He said with a smirk. Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Hisagi thought that he would enjoy it and Matsumoto was bouncing with her feet and not just her breasts. That all added up to…

"Sake." He deduced with a sigh. Matsumoto giggled again,

"And lots of it! You'll be recognized as a real vice-captain if you can drink us all under the table!" she informed him with a smirk, "But you'll never beat me of course."

Ichigo groaned. As far as he could remember he had never been much of a drinker. Even in the academy he'd only… wait. He frowned. It was strange but he couldn't remember ever drinking at the academy. He tried to push his memory but all he could remember of the academy was class after class. Not even a single memory of hanging out with Hisagi and Kira. His musing was cut short however when Matsumoto grabbed hold of his wrist and dragged him over to a seat that was pulled up to a large, round, table. Ichigo blinked. That had not been there when he'd first come in. He eyed Matsumoto cautiously, the girl really could move when she was motivated. He sighed as he sat down, the first shot glass already full in front of him,

"Bottoms up!" Yachiru called from his right. He glanced at her quickly and was relieved to see that she didn't have a shot glass in front of her. He looked around the rest of the table and noted that all the others had already finished their first drink. Ichigo shrugged and swallowed his own sake.

_He sighed, contented, as the fiery liquid flooded through his body to warm his gut. It brought back memories of drinking in the academy library with Jushiro while the white haired youth simply studied for their upcoming exams. He'd laugh and joke about how serious his friend was being before adjusting his swords so that he was comfortable when he eventually fell asleep, something he was bound to do._

Ichigo blinked.

He didn't know anyone called Jushiro. And that was just the first problem with that memory. The second was that he only had one sword. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that Zangetsu was still resting peacefully on his back. He looked down at his forearms and examined them for the unruly brown hair that he'd seen in the memory. While there was hair on his arms it was thinner than in the memory and must definitely black. His thoughts were interrupted however when Matsumoto called out,

"Hey!" she shouted, breaking Ichigo's trance, "You're not wasted after just one shot glass are you?"

Ichigo remembered the comforting feeling that he'd felt after the first shot. He grinned and held out his empty glass,

"Not on your life."

--

Byakuya Kuchiki stepped into his usual place in the captain's meeting without a word. The other captains looked at him expectantly and Captain Commander Yamamoto voiced the otherwise unasked question,

"How is Kurosaki adjusting to his new life Captain Kuchiki?" he asked, his eyes half open to show his interest in the matter. Byakuya opened his eyes slowly and took in the sight of nine captains leaning closer to him in interest. He closed his eyes, irritated,

"The boy is adjusting well." He said simply. The captains fell back from the tips of their toes, their curiosity sated. Except for Captain Unohana,

"How are his movements?" she asked bluntly. Byakuya opened his eyes momentarily, caught flat footed by the question for a few seconds,

"He moves with all the grace of a vice-captain." He replied curtly. Kenpachi barked out a laugh,

"Which is to say none." He commented. Byakuya closed his eyes again at the barbaric Captain's words. But Unohana was not yet satisfied,

"Are his movements confident?" she pressed. Byakuya frowned slightly,

"I hardly see why that has anything to do with his adjustment." He commented dryly. Unohana frowned back, an action that caused the other captains to begin worrying,

"Everything Byakuya. It has everything to do with his adjustment." She scolded. Byakuya bristled when she used his first name. His frowned deepened slightly,

"He is adjusting well _Retsu_." He replied sharply. Before Unohana could respond, Commander Yamamoto slammed his staff on the floor,

"Enough of this bickering!" he commanded forcefully. Both Byakuya and Unohana fell silent immediately. The old man sighed, "Have there been any problems Captain Kuchiki?"

Byakuya went to say no when he remembered the sparring Kurosaki had participated in with the rest of the division. His frowned returned in a smaller form than before,

"There was one thing…" he turned to look at the youngest captain present, Toshiro Hitsugaya, "When he tried to use his shikai's attack he shouted the activation command for Captain Hitsugaya's Shikai."

Hitsugaya stiffened,

"He used my command?" he muttered, more to himself than to the other captains. Commander Yamamoto frowned and looked to Captain Kurotsuchi,

"What is happening Captain Kurotsuchi?" he demanded of the painted man. The sadistic scientist frowned a bit,

"It would appear that giving him the combined combat knowledge of all thirteen captains has had the unexpected side effect of confusing the subject's false memories with those of the captains themselves." He mused. Captain Soifon was the first to react,

"You mean that punk could have access to my memories?!" she demanded of the scientist, already sorely tempted to cut the man's throat out. Kurotsuchi shrugged,

"It is a theory. Another, more likely theory, is that he idolizes the young Captain Hitsugaya and wished to imitate him. Although…" he smirked down at the shorter captain, "He does seem to set his sight rather **low**."

As Captain Hitsugaya verbally attacked the scientist for the height joke, Commander Yamamoto walked over to Byakuya's side,

"Keep an eye on the situation." He ordered the noble. Byakuya nodded,

"Of course Commander. Nothing shall be left out of my next report about the boy's progress."

--

Ichigo sighed with happiness as he downed his thirty third shot glass of sake. He made a show of licking the inside of the glass clean before setting it down on the table. With a smirk he looked over the table at Matsumoto, the only other vice-captain still in the game. She was swaying on the spot, as if the ground were moving beneath her. Ichigo chuckled,

"You alright there Matsumoto?" he called out with glee. He barely had a buzz. Matsumoto reached out blindly with her left hand and grabbed hold of Nemu's collar. With a visible effort she pulled the other woman up from the floor,

"Are you ssshure you usshed the extra shtrong ssshakee?" she slurred. Nemu, her body's unnatural chemicals still trying to repair he damage done by the alcohol, nodded sleepily,

"It blinded three out of five of the test subjects…" she replied before promptly falling asleep again. Matsumoto let go of the collar and the girl slumped to the floor with the other vice-captains. Yachiru had fallen asleep on Ichigo's lap after eating too many gummy worms so Matsumoto was thankfully free from the gloating that would normally follow being beaten so thoroughly in a drinking competition. She waved a hand frantically as Ichigo began pouring more sake out,

"No… no more!" she begged him. Ichigo frowned a little before downing both shots without batting an eye,

"You alright Matsumoto?" he asked her casually. Matsumoto burst into tears just as the doors opened and Captain Hitsugaya stepped into the room. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of his vice-captain crying,

"What happened here?" he asked, already expecting the worst when he noticed the bottle of sake. Matsumoto lifted her head from the table and cried with joy,

"Captain! Save me from him! He's a beast!" she cried, pointing at a confused looking Ichigo. Hitsugaya gripped the hilt of his Zanpakuto. Despite all appearances he was very attached to his vice-captain and he wouldn't stand for it if Kurosaki thought that he could just force himself upon the woman. Then Matsumoto finished her sentence, "He drinks like a demon! He's beaten me and the others! I think I've gone enough rounds to never look at another drink ever again!"

Hitsugaya fell to his knees in front of Ichigo and grabbed hold his sleeves with adoration and whorship. Ichigo tried to break free, confused even more by the action,

"What the hell?!" he cried out but Hitsugaya simply clung to him like a pilgrim before his God,

"You've done the impossible! You've turned Matsumoto away from alcohol! I am forever in your debt!" he declared. Ichigo was a little surprised to find that the prodigy meant every word of it. He laughed it off as he pried the boy off of him,

"_Cus of that drink? Ha! Back in the Zaraki district, me and Ikkaku drank two barrels of the stuff after beating some the best fighters in the area. Now that was drinking!"_ he recalled before barking out a laugh. The newly awoken Yachiru giggled and jumped up onto Ichigo's shoulder,

"You saw that Ichi?! That was when me and Ken-chan first met Baldy!" she declared happily. Ichigo blinked in surprise. Hitsugaya figured out what had happened in an instant and he rushed to remedy he situation,

"Captain Kenpachi must have told you the story Kurosaki." He prompted urgently. Ichigo scratched his head,

"Yeah. That would make sense…" Hitsugaya sighed with relief before Ichigo continued, "But I've never spoken to Captain Kenpachi."

Hitsugaya looked around the room frantically before his eyes came to rest on the sake bottle. He smiled and gave a small, fake, laugh,

"It must be the sake finally catching up with you Kurosaki!" he teased, thanking all the Gods that he'd managed to grab hold of a plausible excuse. Ichigo's face cleared and he chuckled a little,

"I guess it has. But now I have to put Yachiru to bed." He got up from the table, the pink haired girl happily giggling away,

"But Ken-chan won't be back from his nightly sparring with Baldy for hours!" her eyes lit up, "You'll have to read a story to me in Ken-chan's place!"

Ichigo sighed,

"_Fine, I'll read ya a story tonight. But we ain't reading that Chappy the bunny crap again! The Kuchiki runt bought it but it don't mean we have to read it!" _he declared sharply. Hitsugaya's breath caught as he noticed the way Ichigo was speaking had many of Kenpachi's mannerisms and memories. Yachiru didn't notice and actually started to believe that he was Kenpachi,

"Awww! But you haven't read to me in three days Ken-chan! You either owe me one Chappy story or three regular stories!" she reasoned. Ichigo sighed in a very Kenpachi-like way,

"_Fine! We'll read about tha retarded bunny!" _he relented. Yachiru giggled and hugged Ichigo's neck,

"You're the greatest Ken-chan!" she shouted with joy. Ichigo grinned and Hitsugaya bristled as he noticed that it was the same, shark-like, grin of the 11th division captain. Ichigo waved to the small captain as he left the building,

"_See ya later shrimp!"_ he called back before disappearing from sight. Hitsugaya shuddered,

"I have to tell Commander Yamamoto about this…"

"Captain! What are you doing in my room?~"

"GAH! Put some clothes on Matsumoto!"

"But Captain is just so cute!~"

"GAH!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**** Bleach and its characters are owned by some guy whose name escapes me. The point is that it isn't owned by me.**

**Note:**** HICHIGO! Time to see what the horse has been doing while the king is forgetting his steed.**

With You

**Horse.**

Ichigo blinked a few times, staring straight up at the clear blue sky. He was lying on his back but a niggling part of his mind was telling him that something was wrong. Wrong with the way he was lying and wrong in some way he couldn't describe.

**Horse.**

With a huge effort, Ichigo turned his head to the left. He blinked at the skyscrapers that he saw. With even more effort he looked over his shoulder, down the length of the huge structure of another skyscraper. He slowly looked to his feet. He was standing on the side of the skyscraper.

**Horse!**

Then he noticed that someone was standing in front of him, further up the skyscraper. But standing on the side of skyscrapers seemed normal here. No, the strangest thing was the man himself. He would be an exact copy of Ichigo if it weren't for a few differences. The copy seemed to have been bleached white from head to toe. His eyes were a piercing black and yellow rather than the soothing bl**-BROWN!-**ue of the real Ichigo. And the last difference was that the copy was a mess of blood, stab wounds and gapping cuts. It looked like the man could barely stand under his own power. He was coated in his own blood and appeared to be panting while moving his mouth to form words that didn't reach Ichigo by regular means. Instead of hearing his words, he felt them.

**STOP BEING THEIR HORSE!**

--

Ichigo sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes clean of the night's dirt. He'd had the dream of skyscrapers and clones again. They were getting more vivid with each passing night, always coming at midnight. And for some reason he would fall asleep at midnight, against his will, if he tried to stay awake all night. But something in the back of his mind kept pointing out that dreams always meant something, especially the ones that wouldn't stop coming back. There was a word to describe dreams that came back like that but he was too tired to try and think about it. After all, the dream had woken him with its sudden ending, just as it always did.

With a loud sigh he pulled himself out of his bed and shuffled over to the wash basin as he did every morning. He muttered under his breath words that didn't string together to form a sentence just to watch his mouth move in the mirror. Yep, he could still hear. That part of the dream was always quite creepy, never knowing if he'd gone deaf… he shook his head violently to clear his mind of that thought.

Drying his face sparingly with a hand towel, Ichigo pulled on his uniform for another day. It wasn't a work day thankfully; it was his day off today. But he still had to wear his stupid uniform. Something about it 'inspiring' the population of soul society. All he ever saw was a regular Shinigami uniform with a numbered piece of wood on his left arm. Then again, he had seen children from some of the poorer districts looking at him with something akin to awe. Though it was hard to know what kind of look the children had because if he got more than ten feet close to them then they'd fall to their knees from the sheer weight of his spiritual pressure.

He picked up a pen, one of the three that Kira had brought back with him from a mission to the human world, and crossed off another day on his swimsuit calendar, a 'gift' from Matsumoto and the Shinigami women's association. March. Isane in a two piece bikini and lying peacefully on a beach towel, probably unaware of Matsumoto with the camera at the time. Ichigo shook his head, still looking at the calendar. He would not complain if Matsumoto's plan of changing the Shinigami women's uniform to little sailor suits got through. Not one bit by the looks of Isane. He frowned and folded the calendar back to February. Nemu Kurotsuchi looking very posed. She'd obviously been ordered to do it by the president of the association. But when he looked at Nemu, he felt something. And unlike when he looked at the Isane page or the Matsumoto page he felt uncomfortable instead of comfortably warm. He saw fractured images when he looked at Nemu, and none of them were very pleasant.

Needles.

Saw blades.

Needles.

Flashing lights.

And more needles.

Ichigo shuddered. He'd not been bothered by needles until he'd got his first fractured image of Nemu pointing one at him.

--

The pressure was getting to him. With the window of opportunity quickly becoming smaller and smaller he knew that he had to make a move. But his mouth was dry and his back was fast becoming slick with sweat. Stealing himself, Ichigo opened his mouth,

"Hey Isane…" he managed to say before feeling the words dry up again when she turned to look at him. Ichigo swallowed hard to continue, "Would you like to go out to dinner some time?"

Isane opened her mouth to speak and Ichigo thought about her possible responses. Yes was the hoped for answer. No, would probably send him into a state of mild depression which would result in him moping for a few days. A maybe would probably be even worse than a no.

"I-I'd love to Kurosaki-san…" she replied, blushing a deep red as Matsumoto and Yachiru descended upon her. Yachiru flew through the air to land on Isane's shoulder,

"All right! Giant-chan has a date with Ichi! Yay!" she cheered happily. Isane faltered at Yachiru's nickname,

"Giant-chan…?" she muttered to herself. Matsumoto laughed and hugged the taller woman from the side,

"Awww! I'm so happy for you Isane! You managed to bag a nice one here! What's your secret?!" she pressed. Isane's blush grew deeper,

"I'm not sure what you mean…" she replied hesitantly. Matsumoto smiled,

"You know, which techniques?" she puffed out her chest, "I need to know so that I can seduce my beloved Captain!"

--Meanwhile, in Unohana's meditation club—

Toshiro shuddered and fell out of his meditation position. He frowned,

"I felt a great disturbance in the force… as if millions of people suddenly cried out and were silenced…" he thought aloud. A small cough made him turn his head to Captain Unohana, who was smiling at her,

"Silence in meditation please." She said pleasantly. Toshiro felt a lump form in his throat and he swallowed hard,

"Y-Yes Ma'm."

--Back at the vice-captain's meeting—

"You lucky bastard!" Iba said, patting Ichigo on the back rather hard. Ichigo laughed uncertainly, rubbing the back of his head. Hisagi leant close to Ichigo's ear,

"Iba had a bit of a thing for Isane." He explained in a whisper. Ichigo chuckled lightly,

"It's not like we've just agreed to sleep with each other Hisagi. It's a dinner." He commented quietly. Hisagi had his own little chuckle,

"Actually you'd be surprised. Being a vice-captain elevates you to the same social standing as a minor noble." He explained. Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"And this affects my dinner how? You might be losing it Hisagi…" he teased back. Hisagi merely smiled,

"Nobles 'court' rather than date. And courting comes in a strict timeline. An unsupervised dinner, like the one you're going on, is step three." He went on to explain. Ichigo nodded slowly,

"So why is Iba pissed? Cus we've skipped a few steps in courting?" he asked, already fully aware that not even Iba was that likely to overreact. Hisagi winked,

"No… Iba's pissed because of step four." He replied with a smirk. Ichigo went bright red,

"Um… is there… err… how big is the gap between steps 3 and 4?" he asked nervously. Hisagi laughed,

"Straight after dinner my friend!"

"So THAT's why Matsumoto was interested!"

"Damn straight."

--

"You looking divine Ichigo!~" Matsumoto squealed at him. Ichigo looked down at his new clothes. He was dressed in western style clothes that Matsumoto had bought for him from the human world. Tight, black, trousers and a form fitting white shirt. As he breathed he watched his muscles move as if he was naked, with a layer of perfectly white skin. He scratched the back of his head,

"Thanks… but it's a bit tight…" he commented quietly. Matsumoto waved a hand dismissively,

"Nonsense Ichigo! If you've got it… flaunt it!" this last statement was reinforced by Matsumoto's breasts trapping his head. Ichigo went bright red and closed his eyes in frustration,

"_Have some restraint Matsumoto!" _He scolded her, closing his eyes seriously as he did so. Matsumoto blinked,

"Huh? What did you say?" she asked, confused. Ichigo's left eyes twitched in annoyance and he opened his eyes enough to look up at _his vice-captain,_

"_Does skipping you paper work to go drinking make you deaf Matsumoto! Your captain has just told you to have some restraint! Now get back to work!" _he ranted. Matsumoto squealed in delight and pulled Ichigo's face into the valley of her breasts again,

"Oh happy days! It's like looking at a grown-up version of my beloved Captain! Your impression is uncanny Kurosaki!" she applauded him. Ichigo pushed himself away from _his vice-captain,_

"_What are you talking about Matsumoto? Do I have to use child's terms?" _he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, _"I am Toshiro. Kurosaki is the substitute Shinigami that lives in the living world!"_

Matsumoto's eyes widened as she realized that Ichigo wasn't playing. He really did believe that he was Toshiro. She frowned,

"What is the name of you Zanpakuto?" she asked coldly. Ichigo frowned,

"H-" he stopped suddenly before shaking his head, "Zangetsu of course."

Matsumoto heaved a sigh of relief,

"Thank god's that's over…" she muttered. Ichigo went bright red and scratched the back of his head,

"Could you leave now please Matsumoto? I kinda need to do something…"

"Ah! Ichigo never goes on a date with a loaded gun eh?~"

"W-wha?! T-That's not it at all!"

"Oooo… do you want some help with unloading?"

"I'm taken! I'm taken!"

"Party pooper!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I own none of this. Bleach is owned by some guy (Tite Kubo or some such nonsense) and not me. If it was owned by me then there would be a lot more character deaths *cough* Momo *cough*. Oh and Ichigo would have a Harem that would never include Rukia.**

**Note:**** No one lecture me about the length of this chapter please. I'm trying to get back into the swing of it and I'm tired right now. More should follow soon enough. Oh right. The note. Yeah… Plot kinda spirals outwards from here.**

Through the Looking Glass

Ichigo smiled over the table at a furiously blushing Isane. Apparently Matsumoto had dressed her. He found it hard to believe that Isane… his beautiful and innocent Isane… would have chosen to wear a crop-top and incredibly tight shorts that showed her legs well.

'_Of course'_, he though to himself, _'There was a lot of leg to show.'_

Dragging himself away from thoughts of his date's legs he smiled at his silver haired beauty as he took a small drink from the red wine in front of him. He was now very glad that he'd sprung for a table at Soul Society's most expensive restaurant. For some reason he enjoyed the refinement of red win more than the overwhelming comfort of sake. He smiled when the reason came to him.

_It was because it was the same drink he'd shared with Hisana on their wedding night. The night he'd finally found what had been missing in a lifetime of nobility and professionalism. _

Ichigo's smile froze in place.

He didn't know anyone called Hisana. He never had. Captain Kuchiki had.

Now thoroughly confused he was shocked into full awareness again when Isane spoke to him,

"Is something the matter Ichigo?" she asked her nervously, obviously suspecting herself as the source of his discomfort. The black haired youth smiled again and raised his wine glass to her,

"I was simply thinking of something to toast to." He lied smoothly. Isane visibly relaxed and held her own wine glass aloft,

"And what do we toast to?" she asked brightly. Ichigo almost swore. He hadn't thought that far ahead. Quickly he realised that the strange memory from before had provided him with an acceptable answer. He tapped his glass to her's ever so gently,

"To your continued growth." He began with a deliberate pause. Isane looked deflated,

"My growth…?" she asked, looking down and away from him. Ichigo reached across the table and tilted her head upwards so that he could look into her eyes,

"Your continued growth into the woman that any man would sacrifice his life and God given honour to earn a simple token from." He finished with a soft smile. Isane almost fainted as all of the blood seemed to be redirected to her cheeks. As it was she would have toppled over if not for the strong and comforting hand Ichigo was now resting against her cheek. Ichigo moved forwards and Isane subconsciously puckered her lips for the anticipated kiss.

**KING!**

Ichigo froze as if physically slapped by a huge force. He blinked a few times as he felt his mind trying to recede back into the dream world of side-ways buildings. Sitting up abruptly he knocked his chair over and everyone in the restaurant stared at him, especially one very confused vice-captain of the forth division. Ichigo began to sweat with the effort that it took to keep his mind in the real world. He staggered backwards slowly,

"I-I have to… go to the bathroom…" he managed to get out before turning quickly to dash for the rest room. Unfortunately one of the waiters had been trying to pass behind him and Ichigo almost ran the poor man over. Dodging the flying cutlery and dishes, Ichigo sprinted across the restaurant and crashed through the door to the men's room.

He gripped onto the sink tightly, as if anchoring himself to the real world physically would stop him crossing over into the dream world. But even as he began to push his fingers through the sides of the sink he could tell that it wasn't working. He could feel the presence already. The presence of…

**UP HERE KING!**

Ichigo's head whipped up and he nearly cried out as he looked into the mirror in front of him. His clone from the dream world was staring at him from out of the surface of the glass. But unlike the other times he'd seen him, the clone was in perfect health. All that separated him from Ichigo was the obvious colour difference and the look they wore. Ichigo wore a look of anger and terror while his clone looked positively desperate. The look itself was enough to make Ichigo lower his guard. Clearly seeing its chance the clone spoke to him.

**King… please. I only want to help you!**

Ichigo shook his head and tightened his grip on the sink,

"You're nothing but an illusion caused by my own lack of sleep!" he declared loudly. The clone's eyes watered.

**King! Please King! I have seen the world as you see it!**

Ichigo backed away from the mirror, now aware that he'd crushed the sink in his hands with no damage to himself,

"What are you talking about?! I am Ichigo Kurosaki, Vice-Captain of Division 6! I am no king!"

**King… I have your memories. The memories you have aren't real!**

At the mention of memories Ichigo stopped backing away. He eyed the desperate dream clone warily,

"How do you know about my memory problems?"

**Because I am a part of you that wasn't taken over by their brain washing drugs and treatments. Help me free Zangetsu and bring you back to your senses!**

Ichigo frowned,

"Do you know why I can't talk to my sword like the other Vice-Captains?"

**It's because they locked him away. Search for him and see for yourself.**

Ichigo closed his eyes briefly before scowling,

"You're right. I feel his restraints…" he looked up at his clone, "We need answers."

**I'll give you my power my King on one condition.**

"Name it."

**Kurotsuchi dies a horrible death as soon as we've extracted as much information from him as possible.**

"It's a deal if I can add on one condition of my own."

**Name it.**

"You give me all of my memories back. Now."

… **They won't be very clear to you at the moment King. It may take a long time for them you to assimilate them.**

"I don't care. I'm tired of forgetting who I am."

**Very well King. This will hurt.**

It did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** I own none of this. Bleach is owned by some guy (Tite Kubo or some such nonsense) and not me. If it was owned by me then there would be a lot more character deaths *cough* Momo *cough*. Oh and Ichigo would have a Harem that would never include Rukia.**

**Note:**** Got to love Lucozade and Bleach together… it makes pretty colours and lets me see the pretty flying cats. And rabbits.**

Late… for a very important date

Ichigo screamed in agony as another wave of distorted images wormed their way into his mind forcibly. They were almost unrecognisable as images in some cases, that was the speed at which they were pushed into his resisting mind. Blurred and distorted but they stank of familiarity. He could **smell** them. He could smell himself on the images even if he couldn't see them clearly. It was only because of this scent that his mind was even assimilating the images at all, without it his mind would have simply crumbled under the strains of the bombardment.

His body was reacting in other ways, besides the screaming. His legs were rigid and stiff while his fingernails dug into his face in their attempt to tear his own eyes out. But every time the offending fingertips got close to digging into the soft eyes they slid off of them harmlessly, as if the surface they were trying to grip was covered in deep, liquid, mud.

But his mental and physical reactions were nothing compared to the reaction that came from his spiritual pressure. It exploded off of him in wave upon wave of black Reiatsu so powerful that it smashed the stone walls of the men's room upon impact. The stalls splintered into thousands of pieces of wood, which then began to hang in the air around Ichigo, as if he had his own gravity. The waiter from before knocked gently on the men's room door,

"Sir… is there a… problem sir…?" he managed to stutter out. Unseen to Ichigo, the waiter had spoken from his forced position on the floor, crushed by Ichigo's immense spiritual pressure. Ichigo blindly lashed out with one of his arms, his pain too great to be interrupted by such an insignificant soul. Also unknown to Ichigo, his pain fuelled flick of the arm had sent a massive influx of Reiatsu at the door and the waiter cowering behind it. The waiter screamed as it hit him full on, pinning him to the floor painfully.

***

At this point the only person not pressed onto the floor was the forth division's Vice-Captain. Isane gritted her teeth as she fought to make her way over to the men's room door. Just as she was about to touch the door it opened abruptly. She flinched as the pressure acting on her suddenly increased yet again, bringing her to her knees. Ichigo looked down at the silver haired woman with a scowl. Isane shivered when she realized that this scowl was unlike the one he'd seen him wearing before. Tenderly, she reached up to touch his cheek,

"Ichigo…" she began but stopped as the spiritual pressure was totally redirected onto her. Ichigo watched with the same scowl as she collapsed, unconscious. He felt a light growl escape him and he pulled the Vice-Captain to her feet before slapping her across the face once. Her eyes opened weakly and Ichigo glared into her eyes,

"I'm still in the dark Isane. I'm only sure about one thing…" his eyes flashed blue, "The lies die today!"

He growled deeply as he flung the weakened Vice-Captain away from him, idly he noted that she was knocked out from the simple landing. With great reluctance he drew back his Reiatsu, allowing the innocent souls in the restaurant to finally begin breathing again. He felt the pleasure of his dream clone building inside him.

**That's it King! Show them what happens when they make a Horse of a King!**

Despite the blood thirsty nature of his dream clone Ichigo found it harder and harder to think about any alternatives. He had neither the time nor the mental capacity to go through all of his memories right now. But it was oh so clear to him that his dream clone was right. Someone had sealed his memories and tried to give him new ones. And one thing Ichigo was sure about was that he hadn't asked for any of this. He slowly pulled Zangetsu from his back, the wrappings falling away as he did so,

"You thought of a good way to punish Kurotsuchi?" he asked his other half quietly. The blood lust of his clone reached new heights as the pale version of Ichigo began to chuckle.

**After being locked away in my own home? I have plenty.**

*******

The doors buckled inwards briefly before flying across the room to smash into several important experiments. Captain Kurotsuchi whirled round in an unbelievable rage,

"Who dares to destroy my precious experiments?!" he demanded as he drew his sword, already in its Shikai form. His rage froze in his veins when he recognized the figure in his doorway.

The large cleaver of a sword.

The lightly tanned skin.

The almost destroyed set of Shinigami robes.

The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise when he felt nothing when he tried to identify the figure's spiritual pressure. It took him a minute to realize that the boy had mastered all of the skills of a Shinigami because he'd given him the memories of every Master Shinigami in history. The boy, Ichigo Kurosaki, leveled his huge sword at him and the air was suddenly saturated by his incredible Reiatsu,

"Oi! Who do I complain to about the service here?! This girl wasn't able to answer any of my questions!" he declared loudly, throwing Nemu's bloodied corpse into the room. Captain Kurotsuchi's eyes widened when he made the connection,

"You… you have regained your memories?!" he questioned loudly, mostly out of shock. Ichigo just scowled,

"Yup. And now I'm here…" he raised his sword and a blue glow began to gather around the black blade, "To kill you!"

Captain Kurotsuchi did the only thing he could think of to stop the attack connecting with him,

"Bankai!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** I own none of this. Bleach is owned by some guy (Tite Kubo or some such nonsense) and not me. If it was owned by me then there would be a lot more character deaths *cough* Momo *cough*. Oh and Ichigo would have a Harem that would never include Rukia.**

**Note:**** Coffee. And I never realised how many bloody captains there were until this point.**

Dead Memories

Ichigo frowned as the mammoth form of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō materialised just in time to block the blue wave of his Getsuga Tenshō. Fortunately for him he'd managed to disect his burdening memories enough to pick out the name of the attack, making it more powerful if he called it as such. The effect was that the blue cresent wave slammed into the giant baby head between the eyes and lifted the thing into the air with its huge amount of force. He rested Zangetsu on his shoulder with a smirk as he watched the massive Bankai of Captain Kurotsuchi skid into a wall,

"That thing is a Bankai? I thought Bankai were supposed to be powerful." He noted dryly. The painted Captain growled and whipped his hand at the younger shinigami,

"Stop your rolling and destroy him you worthless Zanpakto!" he commanded venomously. Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō righted itself again and began its strange looking charge at the Vice-Captain. Kurotsuchi began to cackle madly, "You'll never survive this boy! Poison him until there's nothing left to place in a test tube Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the baby's cheeks puffed out,

"You're forgetful Mayuri." He commented in an almost off-handed way. Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō breathed out suddenly and a large cloud of purple gas made its way towards Ichigo with surprising speed. Sighing, Ichigo raised his left hand.

Kurotsuchi was almost knocked off his feet as Ichigo sent out a pulse of Reiatsu. Recovering quickly he saw the poison gas cloud had been totally dispelled, having not even reached the boy. He watched with building rage as the boy waved a taunting finger at the scientist,

"I have your battle related memories Mayuri." He reminded the Captain with a smirk. Captain Kurotsuchi growled at his opponent,

"That's Captain Kurotsuchi to you welp!" he roared. He blinked twice when he realised that Ichigo was no longer in front of him. An incredible pain erupted in his left shoulder. In shock he looked down to see Zangestu stabbing through the pain ridden shoulder. He shuddered as Ichigo leaned close to his left ear from behind him,

"This experiment is fighting back Captain Kurotsuchi." He teased, twisting Zangetsu in the man's shoulder to make him cry out. Ichigo felt himself smirking and his dream clone cackled madly.

**Yes! That's it King! Make him suffer!**

Ichigo needed little encouragement.

Kurotsuchi gasped out in pain as Zangetsu slowly began to press through his shoulder and into his upper most left rib. Ichigo chuckled darkly as he whispered the Captain's two most fear words into his left ear,

"Getsuga Tenshō."

***

Byakuya Kuchiki stared down coldly at the newly reformed Mayuri as the usually painted man drank from his private collection of vintage sake. Kurotsuchi didn't seem to notice and continued to drink and babble on about his lab's destruction. The Kuchiki clan leader raised an eyebrow critically,

"You told my servents that you had something very important to tell me Kurotsuchi. It is not wise to keep a man of my status waiting Kurotsuchi." He warned his fellow captain with the same cold stare. Kurotsuchi waved it off as he cried into a sake bottle,

"You'll sense it soon enough. But all of my lovely experiments have been destroyed! And now even my most perfect binding experiment will be undone!" he cried before taking another drink. Byakuya frowned slightly,

"Is that the same binding experiment I think it is?"

His Reiatsu senses almost exploded in the back of his mind as he felt a familiar wave of Reiatsu wash over him.

***

As the massive wave of sinister feeling Reiatsu washed through the forth division, Retsu Unohana was busy using her healing Kido on her injured Vice-Captain. The feeling of the rough Reiatsu rushing over her made her smile slightly. On the hospital bed, Isane merely rolled in her sleep,

"Ichigo…" she murmered in her sleep.

***

Pouring tea was probably the worst thing he could possibly have been doing when the Reiatsu wave hit his office but it was what Jushiro Ukitake had been doing at the time regardless of this. The tea cup shattered and the tea pot followed suit a second later. This left the scolding hot tea with only Jushiro's lap to go to.

For the first time in years Kiyone and Sentaro heard their captain swear. Loudly.

***

The only indication that Shunsui Kyoraku had felt the wave of Reiatsu was the way he merely tugged his hat down more before going back to sleep.

***

Kenpachi Zaraki didn't feel anything as the wave passed over him and he continued to run through the streets of Soul Society. What he did notice was that his daughter had grown silent. He stopped immediately before looking up at the pink menance on his shoulder. Yachiru's eyes were glazed over and her form was rapidly becoming limp. He swore once before speeding away to the forth division.

***

Sajin was brushing his ears with his newest dog brush when the mirror cracked under the wave of spiritual pressure. He let out a large sigh and turned to the window,

"Your plan is falling apart before us Captain-Commander Yamamoto…"

***

Soifon looked up from her new black cat with a frown that persisted even as she stroked the animal behind the ears,

"We may have a problem little Shihoin…"

***

"Captain!~"

Toshiro sighed as he finished up his paperwork,

"What is it Matsumoto? I'm still qu-" he stopped suddenly as the wave of Reiatsu reached his office. He sighed once again and stood up, pushing his chair back, "We have new work to attend to Matsumoto."

"We'll be capturing Ichigo will we captain?"

"It appears so."

"Then I have the perfect plan!~"

"…"

"Ta-dah! You like it captain!"

"… put your clothes back on Matsumoto."

"Ahah!"

"…what?"

"It took you longer to tell me off this time! You were looking weren't you Shiro-kun?!"

"…"

"Then lets hug!~"

"Stay away from me Matsumoto! I mean it! You hug me with no clothes on and I'm not responsible for what gets frozen!"

"Oooo… Captain's kinky!~"

"You're impossible!"

***

Ichigo smiled faintly as he stood on the sideways skyscraper that he'd come to accept as part of his mindscape. He turned to his right and saw his bleached clone wink at him before grinning. Ichigo shook his head pleasently as he turned back to the man standing on the tip of a flap pole, a few meters in front of him,

"How you feeling old man?" he asked gently. The man took a pair of sunglasses out of his ragged black coat, shaking off the remains of his chains as he did so. With practiced ease he flicked his sunglasses on and jumped down onto the side of the building,

"_Better. Thank you Ichigo."_ He turned to looked at the dream clone with a small smile, _"And you as well Hichigo."_

The dream clone, or Hichigo, grinned even wider and grabbed hold of Zangetsu's wrist,

"**Its been awhile Zan-Zan. Are we in agreement?"** he asked, his voice giddy. Ichigo looked on in contented confusion as Zangetsu nodded in agreement,

"_Yes. We shall both give ourselves to Ichigo for his greatest fight yet."_ He announced proudly. Hichigo twirled on his feet to point a menacing finger at Ichigo,

"**You hear that King? You get us both! So don't screw it up!"**


	7. Author's Note

**This is just a quick author's note to tell you all that I will not be available for writing or updating until the 22****nd**** of February. I'm sorry for any inconvenience. It was inconvenient for me as well. :P**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** I own none of this. Bleach is owned by some guy (Tite Kubo or some such nonsense) and not me. If it was owned by me then there would be a lot more character deaths *cough* Momo *cough*. Oh and Ichigo would have a Harem that would never include Rukia.**

**Note:**** God I hate the smell of old people. And sleeping on floors. That sucks just as much as old people smell.**

Bite the hand that feeds

Ichigo sighed and waved Zangetsu around in a lazy gesture towards the gate,

"You guys are kinda in the wrong place. I want to go this way." He told the assembled Vice-Captains with a yawn. Matsumoto's sword wavered from its regular guard position,

"You mean you're not going to go after Captain Kurotsuchi?" she questioned him cautiously. Ichigo ignored her and instead looked over the assembled Vice-captains. Iba, Nanao, Nemu and Ikkaku. He frowned before realisation dawned,

"You're trying for a distraction and then a flanking tactic aren't you?" he pointed out professionally. Almost instantly the wall of a nearby building collapsed as Hisagi charged through it with his Shikai twirling. Ichigo smirked and batted the first blade away with the flat of Zangetsu before grabbing the grip of the second tightly. Hisagi looked mildly concerned when Ichigo began to pull him closer using one of his thrown Shikai blades. Ichigo frowned again.

Hisagi was only mildly concerned.

The taps to his neck were almost too soft for him to notice them but notice them he did. Quickly he released Hisagi's blade and spun round on the spot with a roar and a clenched fist. Kira was caught unprepared and Ichigo slammed his fist into the pale man's stomach with enough force to take the wind from the man's lungs. With Kira struggling to breathe Ichigo let his anger get the better of him. Instead of disengaging from Kira he pulled back his fist and pounded the pale Vice-Captain with all of his tremendous strength. Kira passed out after the forth crushing blow. With a grunt of disgust Ichigo hurled the unconscious Vice-Captain away from him before turning back to the appalled looking Hisagi,

"What have you done?!" the tattooed Vice-Captain made to run to Kira but Ichigo held up a hand,

"You tried to trick me and incapacitate me with Kira's Shikai ability." It wasn't a question, "In a battle, the person with the weakest Reiatsu has his attacks pushed back by the Reiatsu of the stronger. I'm stronger."

Hisagi waved a hand at the other Vice-Captains,

"I want a one-on-one match with him." He told them firmly. Matsumoto scoffed and raised her blade again,

"Like hell that's happening! Let's get him guys!" she called out to the remaining fighters. Ichigo shrugged at Hisagi and stabbed Zangetsu into the ground. Keeping a watchful eye on the charging Vice-Captains, he knelt down and grabbed a handful of loose dirt before rubbing it into his hands. Matsumoto was leading the charge and chose this moment to use her Shikai,

"_Growl, Haineko!"_ She commanded forcefully as she slid her hand along the edge of her sword. The metal of the sword's blade flew apart and became visible only as the thousands of pieces that made up her ash based Shikai. Quickly, the ash surged forwards at Ichigo. The rouge Shinigami looked up from his position on the ground to see the swarm of ash rushing towards him. With a smile he disappeared.

Matsumoto immediately ground to a halt and recalled Haineko. She quickly checked her surroundings and cursed Ichigo's impressive mastery of shunpo. A scream caught her attention.

Ichigo sighed as he punched Nanao in the gut for the second time. The first punch had been fast, the result of attacking while still blurring in shunpo, but she'd stayed conscious enough to scream. The second hit lifted her off the ground and it silenced her. He smiled grimly and waved at the other Vice-Captains. Haineko surged towards him again and the smile grew to a grin. Once again he disappeared in a blur of shunpo, avoiding the ash cloud handily.

He chuckled in his mind as he simply circled the group of Vice-Captains, using a constant speed of shunpo that was above the lower Shinigami. They were slowly backing up so that they were in a circle, all of them back to back with each other. He frowned slightly and slowed down enough to show them teasing glimpses of his after images. The chuckle returned as he watched Haineko attack the after images, looking as if in slow motion to him. With a sigh he decided to act again.

With an increase in his shunpo, Ichigo darted forwards and grabbed hold of the front of Nemu's robes. The quiet Vice-Captain's eye widened in surprise. Using his greater strength, Ichigo pulled Nemu towards him, drawing her close enough to unleash a shattering knee to her gut. Blood flew from her mouth and splashed against his face. Taking this as the sign to start his next stage of attack, he flung Nemu at Iba. The 7th division Vice-Captain stumbled as Nemu collided with him and Ichigo used the distraction to land a few choice blows to the man's head. He pulled his fist back for a powerful finishing strike when his back suddenly erupted in pain. Acting on instinct, Ichigo burst away from the remaining Vice-Captains with shunpo again, re-appearing on top of one of the nearby buildings. Ikkaku glared up at Ichigo, blood dripping from the tip of his Shikai,

"Hey Ichigo! Take us seriously or we'll cut you to ribbons! Pick up your sword!" he bellowed, his face going red with anger at the insult to his fighting prowess. Ichigo idly touched the cut on his back, feeling the blood. He paused for a second as he looked into his mind.

_Oi! Hichigo!_

_**Yeah? **_

_Can I do that weird instant regeneration thing that some hollows can do?_

_**Sure can Kingy. Best use it too. I don't want to be living in some battered up old body!**_

Ichigo ignored his hollow and focused on the wound.

Almost immediately the white foam-like substance erupted from the wound before sealing it shut and returning to flesh. He rolled his shoulders to relieve the tension and smiled at the shocked looks of the three remaining fighters. With a chuckle he held his right hand out flat. Zangetsu suddenly flew from its resting place in the ground and slapped into his hand. Ichigo laughed at the fearful seated Shinigami bellow him,

"Serious eh? I can do serious." he raised Zangetsu above his head, "_Getsuga Tenshō!"_

***

Ichigo jumped down from the top of the building to survey the damage caused by his massive attack. The dust was just starting to settle and he could already tell that he'd wiped the three remaining Shinigami out. Ikkaku was embedded in a nearby wall, Hisagi was lying on his front, unmoving, and Matsumoto was struggling to crawl away from him. He frowned. The concussion of the attack had been enough to knock both Ikkaku and Hisagi out cold but she was still strong enough to try and escape. A chill ran down his spine as he hollow put forth his suggestion.

_**Kill her. **_

Silently, Ichigo walked over to Matsumoto and he raised Zangetsu above his head slowly before bringing it down at the unsuspecting woman's neck with careless speed. A few inches from its target, Zangetsu was stopped suddenly when it impacted upon another zanpakuto. Ichigo looked up slowly,

"I knew you'd come." He said coldly. The equally cold Toshiro Hitsugaya stared back at him,

"Of course Kurosaki. You have broken the laws of Soul Society by assaulting a Captain. You have also assaulted several other seated officers." His eyes narrowed, "And you were about to execute my Vice-Captain."

Ichigo shrugged,

"It was against all current laws and ethics to take my mind…" his own eyes grew cold and harder, "And fuck around with it to make me your lapdog."

Toshiro flinched at the truth in Ichigo's words but he immediately brought his death glare back,

"Nothing can justify your actions." He straightened up slightly and they both pulled their swords away from Matsumoto, "Vice-Captain Kurosaki Ichigo, you are hereby under arrest. You must come with me to await trial by Central forty-six."

Ichigo shook his head,

"You and I both know that it won't happen. So let's just skip to the part where you tell me that you will carry out my execution here and now and attack." He commented lightly. Toshiro nodded briskly,

"Agreed." He crouched into a ready position, "Prepare yourself Kurosaki Ichigo!"

With a roar the two prodigies launched themselves at each other.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**** I own none of this. Bleach is owned by some guy (Tite Kubo or some such nonsense) and not me. If it was owned by me then there would be a lot more character deaths *cough* Momo *cough*. Oh and Ichigo would have a Harem that would never include Rukia.**

**Note:**** God I hate the smell of old people. And sleeping on floors. That sucks just as much as old people smell.**

Bite the hand that feeds – Chew until it bleeds

Ichigo swore loudly as his blood flew through the air, the cut in his left shoulder blossoming in pain as he switched his attention to it after bringing himself to a complete stop after the reckless charge. He gave the gash an odd look before turning round to face Hitsugaya again. Zangetsu had left its mark on the silver haired youth, a cut across his small chest.

Ichigo frowned.

He was thinking of Hitsugaya as a child and he knew that was a dangerous thing, commenting on his age often resulted in death or severe injury. The silver haired captain launched himself forwards suddenly and Ichigo had to quickly raised Zangetsu to block the downwards slash that would otherwise have torn him in two. Grunting a little, Ichigo pushed Hitsugaya back with his superior strength and proceeded with a slash of his own. The two blades met each other half way before Zangetsu's greater weight forced Hyōrinmaru back towards it weilder's neck. Sweat began to form on Hitsugaya's brow as the struggle to keep his own blade from killing him began to take its toll on his strength and endurance. Ichigo noted this quickly and pulled back from the attack, using shunpo to jump backwards in order to evade the quick slash that was Hitsugaya's counter-attack. Ichigo re-appeared on top of a roof, a fiece scowl marring his features,

"Don't act like a child Hitsugaya!" he scolded the captain harshly, causing the younger shinigami to blink in shock, "You think that you're better than me so you seek to prove it by beating my shikai with your sword's sealed state. In so doing you limit yourself and you don't seem to care about your limits."

With a burst of shunpo Ichigo appeared behind Hitsugaya. He grabbed hold of Hitsugaya's left shoulder tightly, watched with cold detachment as the young captain turned his head towards him in utter horror. A growl escaped him as he cut down with Zangetsu, ripping through the material of Hitsugaya's robes along with the skin and muscle of the prodigy's back. The blood erupted from the wound and splashed against Ichigo's front. With a snort, Ichigo pushed Hitsugaya away from him and watched the boy stagger drunkenly forwards before spinning to raise a weary sword in his defence. The former Vice-Captain raised an eyebrow as he flicked Zangetsu to rid its tip of blood. Hitsugaya gritted his teeth against the pain and raised his sword to the sky,

"_Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"_ he roared. The reiatsu around Hitsugaya condenced to form the chinese dragon of his shikai, the tail ending at the tip of his sword. Almost as an after thought the silver haired captain touched the wound on his back, freezing it over almost instantly. Ichigo sighed,

"You get the first shot Captain." He told the young shinigami quietly. Hitsugaya nodded stiffly before waving his sword heavily. The dragon's head roared once before rushing forwards at Ichigo, its body extending out from the sword itself. Ichigo roared back at the ice construct and cut the head down with Zangetsu, smashing the head into pieces with ease. Ichigo was forming a smile when alarm bells began to ring in his head.

_Hitsugaya's shikai has two methods of attack, the direct dragon and the chained cresent blade that extends from the hilt of his blade. The dragon's head is often used as a diversion so that the opponent may be… oh shit!_

Swearing heavily, Ichigo twisted his body to the left with as much speed as he could muster in less than half a second. Unfortunately he was just too slow, the chain of Hitsugaya's second, cresent, blade wrapped itself around his right leg tight. With his implanted knowledge of Reiatsu, Ichigo was able to see the blue spirit energy passed up through the chain and into his leg. Despite memories of such an attack and its effects, he couldn't help but cry out in pain as his entire right leg was suddenly frozen solid in an expanding coat of ice. Concious of the expansion of the ice, despite his overwhelming pain, Ichigo pulled against the upper part of his leg, as yet un forzen by the attack. The leg snapped off half way between the knee and the thigh, leaving Ichigo with a heavily bleeding stump of a limb.

The pain was enormous and the lack of balance made him fall backwards onto the ground, howling in pain as he desperately tried to stem the massive tide of rapidly escaping blood with his left hand. His right hand was currently digging into the ground, his fingers digging deep groves in the loose earth. Hitsugaya walked slowly over to his downed opponent, his face a mask of cold detachment. He came to a stop just in front of Ichigo, looking down at the stump,

"You're bleeding out Kurosaki. You'll die here unless you come with me to be healed and then put on trial." He announced quietly. Ichigo merely rolled left to right in his pain and Hitsugaya felt his anger surfacing, "You fool Kurosaki! I didn't want to have to do this! You could have talked to me dammit! That's what friend do, they help each other with their problems!"

Ichigo suddenly stopped rolling around and his cries of pain cut off abruptly. He stared up at the silver haired captain through narrowed eyes,

"Was I ever your friend? Or did you just have that put in me later?" he scowled, "Friends don't do things like that. You're my enemy. And as my enemy, I will show you no mercy."

Hitsugaya blinked,

"You're threatening me?" he stared down at the injured shinigami with disbelief, "You've lost a leg and a lot of blood. You can't fight, let alone win."

Ichigo grinned, a savage grin that made a shiver run up Hitsugaya's spine. The grin _reeked _of Kenpachi,

"_I ain't a gonner just yet kid!" _he roared as he flung his right hand up at Hitsugaya. The loose dirt that Ichigo had been collecting during his 'pain' flew from his fingertips, directly into the young captain's eyes. Hitsugaya cursed, his hands going to his eyes instinctively as he staggered backwards. Ichigo grabbed hold of Zangetsu quickly and waved the blade towards Hitsugaya, "_Getsuga Tenshō!"_

The blue crescent of energy burst from Zangetsu and crashed straight into Hitsugaya's stomach, picking the prodigy up into the air and flinging him into a nearby wall with its excessive force. Unseen by Ichigo, Hitsugaya crashed through the wall and quite far into the building. Ichigo looked down at his right leg stump instead of watching his opponent's defeat.

_Hichigo._

_**It's bad King**_

Ichigo winced. He could hear the cringe in the hollow's voice.

_Can you do anything with it?_

A pause.

_Anything._

A slightly longer pause.

_**I can give you a replacement leg until we find someone that can help you regenerate your real leg.**_

_What's the catch?_

Now he could feel the hollow's small smile.

_**You catch on fast King.**_

The smile vanished from Ichigo's mind.

_**You'll grow the outer shell of my right leg. It will function perfectly well as a leg, even without the inside.**_

_Do it._

_**It's going to hurt King.**_

_And losing the leg didn't?_

_**This is a whole other league to that pain. Kenpachi's battle experiences may have dulled pain to you but this is beyond even Kenpachi.**_

_Do it._

Ichigo's eyes widened as he felt the end of the stump begin to bubble and boil with the white liquid bone of a hollow. He bit into a knuckle to keep himself from crying out. It felt like a cross between burning the skin and scolding it with boiling water, only the pain didn't lessen. A small grunt escaped Ichigo as the pain increased in intensity. His head flailed widely from side to side as the bubbling seemed to quicken, adding to his pain. His flailing head knocked his knuckle from his mouth and he clamped his mouth shut as fast as he could in order to keep his noises of pain to a minimum. If he had been in the right mind he would have noticed that he'd bitten off the very tip of his tongue.

Suddenly pain lanced throughout his body as an entire leg burst out of the bubbling stump.

Ichigo nearly fainted from the pain and let out a loud cry despite his best efforts.

After a few seconds the pain ebbed away to nothing and he chanced a look down at his right leg. It was very different from his old leg. It was made entirely of the bone substance of a hollow with a red streak down the outside of the leg itself. But to top it off his foot had been replaced with a reptile foot with three forward talons and one rear talon. He sighed loudly and rolled over onto his stomach, tasting blood in his mouth as he laid eyes on the glowing portal that would take him away from Soul Society. He forced a smile and tried to push his way onto his feet.

He winced and fell back down onto his front, the pain stemming from the place where his new limb connected with his existing thigh. Ichigo rolled his eyes. Great a fully functioning limb but an exceedingly painful connection point. He shook his head and placed Zangetsu on his back before placing one hand in front of the other, beginning his slow crawl to the awaiting Senkaimon. And freedom from the oppressive control of Soul Society.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own anything used within this story except perhaps the plot I'm using, although it is probably heavily influenced by other writers.

Note: I think I've decided to give this whole story thing another crack! After all, I have more free time nowadays. Now onto some deeply emotional stuff! Enjoy!

Hollow – **Shut the hell up King!**

Zanpakuto – _I hate the rain Ichigo_

Human/Shinigami/Arrancar – Shut the hell up! Both of you!

The Ghost of you

Ichigo swore in mild annoyance as he fell out of the glowing gate-like portal and onto the hard road beneath it. He grumbled something about adding some stairs to the gate before something finally turned on in his mind. It was the way that the road surface looked to him, something so simple and yet so achingly familiar. Glancing up, he found the full moon perched in the inky blackness of the night sky with only a few stars dotted around the silver orb. It was strange but he'd never liked staring at the sky in Soul Society, the others had tried to convince him of its beauty once but it had felt empty to him, as though the whole thing was just an elaborate fake. Looking up at the sky now he knew the reason why; there was just no way to compare the sky in the real world to the sky that hung lifelessly over Soul Society.

With great difficulty he pulled his attention away from the night sky and cast a curious glance about himself, noting that he seemed to be kneeling in the middle of a high street at around midnight. Slowly standing, Ichigo had to be extra careful with one of his legs ending in unfamiliar talons, he made his way over to the pavement on the side of the road. A sign for a bakery caught his attention and he found himself suddenly very interested in the two crossed loaves of bread that the sign depicted. An image rose to the forefront of his mind, completely unbidden.

A girl, near enough his own age, was exiting the bakery with a bag full of baked goods and a giddy smile that seemed infectious even as a glimpse of a memory. Her casual attire did little to hide her womanly charms and her glowing face was framed by a beautiful head of lightly orange hair.

His throat seized up and he found his lips suddenly very dry at the glimpse of the young woman. A name came to the front of his mind, not unlike the image before it. His voice croaked as a consequence of his earlier cries of pain in Soul Society,

"Orihime…"

* * *

As he walked through the town his body seemed to switch to auto-pilot, guiding him down a route that he didn't fully remember yet. He came across an alleyway and continued on, stopping in front of a telephone pole to look down at a broken vase and the three dying flowers the vase had obviously once contained.

Another flash of recognition.

A young girl, floating a few inches above the ground and with a severed chain in her chest, was crying as a group of young men skateboarded past her, knocking the vase and flowers over. Then he remembered a little further.

The girl was thanking him with a large smile as he righted the vase and its flowers before promising to visit her again tomorrow, to talk to her as some many others were unable to do.

As the flashes ended, Ichigo looked around the alleyway for a few seconds. Noting that the alley was completely empty, Ichigo knelt down and touched the broken pieces of the vase. With a small frown, kido rushed from his fingertips to reassemble the vase. He smiled a little as he righted the vase and put the three flowers back in. He stood a little bit quicker than he'd knelt down, a little embarrassed that he'd righted the flowers for a soul he knew had already passed on to Soul Society. As he turned to walk away, the soft voice she'd used to thank him with before floated to him from his own disjointed memories. He smiled faintly as he continued along the route his body knew well but his mind was struggling to remember.

* * *

He stopped abruptly, his journey apparently over.

He slowly looked up at the building in front of him, taking care to note that the structure couldn't really be called a building as the second floor had seemingly collapsed onto the ground floor. Amazingly the door swung open at his touch and he was able to walk into a kitchen and dining area, the ceiling of the room closer to the floor than it should have been with the second floor obviously resting on top of it.

Holding out a hand, he let it idly trail across the dusty surface of the dining table as he walked aimlessly through the ground floor of the clinic/house. A few stray tears rolled down his cheeks as he found a dusty apron resting against the stove, as if waiting to be used. He reached out and picked it up, turning the yellow material over in his hands to look at the brown cat face of the front of it. Despite himself, he felt himself smile as the tears began to fall a little faster. It was Yuzu's favourite apron, the one he'd bought her for her last birthday.

Letting the apron fall onto the table-top, he moved over to the staircase, managing to wriggle his way past the worst of the rubble and into the one room upstairs that was still intact. It was a room obviously belonging to a girl, although not a girly girl by any stretch of the imagination. The single bed was made up neatly with a plain purple bed set, the walls a neutral cream colour. He smiled at the hat resting on top of the dresser; a baseball cap.

It was Karin's hat, the one she'd insisted on wearing every day since she was about four. He smiled at the memory; it reminded him of just how alike the two of them had been. He'd worn the same baseball cap everywhere when he was her age, but he'd given it to her when he'd caught her looking at it forlornly for the fifth time that day. Her eyes had lit up with joy and she'd hugged him extra hard before running off to gather enough of her friends to play baseball with.

As his eyes drifted across the room again, he smiled as he caught sight of the only family photo they'd taken that didn't involve Ichigo scowling. In it, he was grinning widely with Karin on his shoulders, frozen in mid-laugh. His dad had an arm round his shoulders, his own grin goofy and lovable as he held Yuzu steady on his own shoulders, her face punctuated by an amazing smile. It brought more tears to his eyes but he quickly reached into the frame and pulled out the photograph, tucking it into the hilt-wrappings of Zangetsu so that his family would always be with him during the hard times to come.

* * *

Once again he moved on auto-pilot, tracing a route he'd walked once a year for many years now. His hollowfied leg hurt like hell at the place where it fused to his natural leg but he ignored it, digging the talons into the tarmac of the road to keep his balance with each step. In the back of his mind he heard his Hollow laugh.

**That's good King! You've learnt to walk! And all without mommy to hold your hand!**

Ichigo scowled,

"Shut the hell up Horse." He muttered darkly, the word 'mommy' having struck a chord with him. He felt his Hollow raise an eyebrow in his inner world.

**That was a bit harsh there King… you finally growing a spine?**

Ichigo was sorely tempted to jump into his inner world and rip his Hollow limb from limb but stopped as a calming feeling swamped his emotions through the bond her shared with Zangetsu.

_Calm, Ichigo. He is just joking. He knows how hard this is for you._

Ichigo went back to scowling,

"If he really did then he'd keep his 'mother' comments to himself." He snapped back, his nerves growing as he began to approach the hill that led to the cemetery.

**King… believe me, I know. I spent the time we were… 'controlled', swimming with your old memories and emotions. I've basically had to live that day over and over again, with all the emotions that go with it…**

Ichigo stopped scowling at the same time he stopped walking; at the top of the hill. He looked dead ahead, his mother's tombstone clearly the focus of his attention. He let out a shuddering breath, one he hadn't been aware he'd held in,

"Then you and I are the same." He whispered as he slowly began to make his way down the rows of headstones to the one he wanted to see again. As he stopped in front of his mother's grave, he felt his Hollow recede to the back of his mind, presumably to wallow in the same feelings that he himself was wallowing in. With his heart in his throat he knelt down, laying Zangetsu on the ground gently. He stayed on his knees but looked up at the grave marker. His throat was suddenly dry and his eyes watery, something that had not happened at this grave for a good number of years. Reaching out, he touched his mother's grave and the dam burst, letting his tears roll down freely as he openly sobbed.

For a while that was all he did.

He cried.

He wailed.

He sobbed.

He mourned.

Eventually, with the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon, he stopped crying and pulled himself back up from his hunched crying position. He swallowed, his eyes sore and red from his tears,

"I failed mom. I promised that I would protect my friends… and our family…" he almost burst into tears again but managed to control himself, "What I'm going to do next… I'm not sure you would want."

He thought about it for a few moments before giving a tentative smile,

"In fact I'm sure you would try and talk me out of it." His smile turned sad, "You'd probably tell me something like, 'vengeance won't make the pain go away', or something like that."

He straightened a little, his face serious,

"But I have to do this mom. I have to do something for those I failed to protect." His thoughts drifted to Orihime, "And I have to save those who I promised I would protect."

He bowed low,

"So forgive me mom but I am going to go against your peaceful and forgiving nature." He announced, feeling incredibly guilty about choosing his path. A breeze picked up, chilling him to the bone. The chill receded as he felt a hand rest upon his right shoulder. He looked up to see a ghostly vision of Zangetsu standing just behind him, his long coat moving with the breeze as if he were fully corporal. The aged spirit looked down at him with a caring smile.

_Your mother would be proud of you Ichigo. You have grown into a strong young man, one who is willing to make hard decisions for what he believes in. She still loves you._

Ichigo felt a hitch in his throat, touched by his sword's words. Another hand fell on his left shoulder and he was surprised to see his Hollow standing on the other side of him, an unusually soft look on his face.

**She was a peaceful person Ichigo. But our world has no room to be peaceful. You cannot protect as a peaceful person. And besides, she'd love you for this action anyway.**

When Ichigo looked confused, Hichigo smiled. Not an insane grin, a regular smile, full of good humour.

**It's exactly like something the Old Goat would do.**

Ichigo laughed, a strained sound from a throat pained from crying. He nodded to his Hollow,

"Your right… we'll have to make sure we don't randomly attack sleeping people from now on." He noted with a thin smile. Hichigo grinned.

**That's the ticket King! Put some humour in there! Maybe it'll stop the rain…**

Ichigo blinked a few times,

"You don't like the rain either?" he asked quietly. Hichigo rolled his eyes.

**If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times; me and Zangetsu are the same. He hates the rain, I hate the rain. He wants trees and a kitten; I want trees and a kitten.**

Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"You want a kitten?" he asked, noting that his Hollow was now looking extremely sheepish. The human boy grinned, "You got a name in mind for this kitten?"

His Hollow muttered something too quietly for him to hear. Zangetsu rolled his eyes.

_He wants to call it Tiddles._

Ichigo laughed as Hichigo looked outraged.

**Zan-Zan you traitor! I told you that in confidence!**

Ichigo stopped laughing and patted his Hollow's hand, mildly surprised that he could do so,

"Don't worry Hichigo… I'll work on getting you that kitten." He announced proudly. Hichigo suddenly looked really happy.

**As long as you sort the rain out too! I don't want my Tiddles getting wet!**

* * *

Ichigo stood in front of the crumbled remains of his childhood home, facing across the street with a serious expression. Zangetsu's spirit materialised beside him, his long coat fluttering in a non-existent breeze.

_Thank you for stopping the rain Ichigo._

Ichigo shrugged a little,

"It's the least I can do old man. I mean you've always given me your strength when I needed it the most… I'm just happy to give something back to you." He smiled a little, "Who would have thought all I needed to do was to focus myself entirely on a goal."

Hichigo's spirit form slowly faded into view on the opposite side of the street. He was smiling warmly from ear to ear, stroking a black kitten. The kitten was in the folds of the Hollow's robes and was currently purring loudly at the attention it was being given. Ichigo chuckled,

"It looks like you're happy as well Hichigo." He commented dryly. Hichigo laughed contentedly, scratching Tiddles under the chin gently.

**I have to admit King that it has become a lot more bearable in that empty head of yours with Tiddles around.**

Ichigo rolled his eyes before suddenly frowning, his eye resting on his hollowfied leg,

"Any chance of ever getting this thing fully regenerated?" he asked hopefully. Hichigo frowned a bit, thinking, before nodding slowly.

**I think I could regenerate it fully with some of the ambient reiatsu of Hueco Mundo.**

Ichigo chuckled,

"Then it's a good thing that's exactly where we're going." He noted dryly. Hichigo nodded at the implied command by his King and tapped at the air with a finger. Despite being only in spirit form, a Garganta formed at his touched, splitting the very fabric of the human world to create a portal to the Hollow realm. Ichigo gripped Zangetsu's hilt from its position on his back and both of the spirits vanished back into his inner world. As he stared into the gaping blackness, he set his mind once more on the goal before him,

"It's just me coming to the rescue this time Orihime… but I will save you. I will protect you."

Without another world he leapt into the void.

* * *

**I guess this means that I'm back to writing this thing… weird after all this time. Perhaps I'll finish it in this phase of writing. Perhaps I'll end up leaving it for months again before posting another handful of chapters. Who knows? But I am writing now so don't worry so much :D**

**Next time;**

**A forgotten human! Ichigo rushes to save his princess!**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own anything used within this story except perhaps the plot I'm using, although it is probably heavily influenced by other writers.

_**Note: I hate to be 'one of those' authors who cries for more reviews but… yeah… more reviews please! This story won't carry on until it gets at least 65 reviews overall.**_

Hollow **– ****We want you to trust us! (Wir wollen dass ihr uns vertraut)**

Zanpakuto – _We want you to believe everything from us! (__Wir wollen dass ihr uns alles glaubt)_

Human/Shinigami/Arrancar – We want to see your hands! (Wir wollen eure Hände sehen)

All – _**We want to go down in applause!**_ _**(Wir wollen in Beifall untergehen)**_

_**

* * *

**_

Ich Will (I want)

As Ichigo looked out across the vast desert of Hueco Mundo from his position on top of a sand dune and narrowed his eyes at what he saw. Las Noches was in the distance but because of its massive size he was able to see that the white palace had been repaired, the scars from the battles waged within (and on) gone, as if they had never existed. A loose growl escaped his throat despite his gritted teeth.

It was as if his enemy had simply forgotten the first invasion of Hueco Mundo with the return of Orihime as their prisoner. Even from this distance, his now enhanced reiatsu senses informed him that the palace was virtually buzzing with power, despite the reiatsu dampening stone of the palace itself. Although he couldn't be sure, Ichigo had a feeling that it was probably due to the return of the Espada to full strength. He was not naïve enough to believe that Aizen would not have planned for the destruction of his forces and with Orihime's powers… it would be foolish to think the traitor only had two Espada remaining.

Deciding not to wait another second, he brought his reiatsu to his feet and took off in a blur of shunpo towards the looming palace. But as he travelled, Hichigo materialised beside him, keeping up with his own sonido.

**Hey King…**

He nodded for his hollow to continue.

**Why are we rescuing the Princess?**

Ichigo frowned,

"I promised to protect her. I promised that we'd go home." He told his hollow, aware that this was not the extent of his hollow's curiosity. Hichigo looked awkward for a few seconds.

**Look King… are you doing this because you love her or something like that?**

Ichigo would have been embarrassed but after quickly analysing his thoughts on the subject he simply shook his head,

"No I'm not in love with Orihime. I love her… but more like a bubbly little sister or something. That make sense?" he asked, a little unsure on how to put his feelings for Orihime. Hichigo frowned.

**So you're not in love with her… so why are we going up against the single biggest threat to our very existence? I doubt Aizen will just sit back this time.**

Ichigo scowled,

"I've already told you. I promised to protect her." He explained with finality. Hichigo ignored his King's tone.

**She's the last person for you to protect isn't she?**

Ichigo suddenly stopped dead, his shunpo placing him at the edge of a massive crater in the sea of sand. Idly he realised that the crater had probably been made from one of the stray attacks from his battle with one of the Espada. He turned to see that Hichigo had come to a stop beside him. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes tiredly,

"She is. And that… it…" he paused, pulling his hand away to look straight up at the moon, "It scares me. My whole life… I've been protecting people. I can't even imagine what I'd do without people to protect. And that is so close to happening. I'm so close to losing my life's purpose and it scares me."

Hichigo was silent for a few moments before nodding.

**Then we can't fail. We will save Orihime. If only to stop the rain.**

Ichigo chuckled a little,

"I take it that Zangetsu is getting wet?"

**Soaked.**

**

* * *

**

Aizen smiled easily as he sat down in his throne in the Espada meeting room, noting, with some satisfaction, that he was the centre of attention. All of his Espada were watching him with respectful curiosity. His smile increased a little as he gestured for Gin to begin serving the tea for the Espada and the Shinigami in the room. He nodded slightly as Gin filled his cup, breathing the delightful aroma of the tea with closed eyes. Without tasting it, Aizen placed his tea back on the table before looking out at his Espada again. His easy smile still in place, Aizen spread his arms,

"It is so good to see you all alive and well again my dear Espada… but I am afraid that this meeting is about more than simply toasting your good health." He noted that Nnoitra snorted at his words, obviously thinking him weak for sounding like he cared, "It seems that we have the privilege of welcoming two of our former allies. Bring them in please Kaname."

The blind Shinigami bowed to him before exiting through the meeting room's double doors before returning momentarily with two other beings. One was an obviously injured Grimmjow, who fell forwards on his face when Tosen let go of him. The prideful Arrancar swore loudly as his injuries flared up in pain from his rough treatment. With what was obviously a large effort, the blue haired Arrancar pulled himself up to his knees, swaying slightly. His cocky attitude remained however, as he simply rose a bleeding hand and waved,

"Yo." He greeted the Espada as if nothing was the matter. Nnoitra scoffed,

"You're pathetic Grimmjow… you couldn't even die like a man from my last attack. You had to go and survive to live like a goddamn cripple." The lanky Espada stood up abruptly, "In fact… I think I'm going to finish you off now."

Aizen frowned a little and focused a fraction of his reiatsu on the fifth Espada. The effect was obvious, as the thin Espada fell to one knee under the pressure and instant broke out into a sweat to remain at least somewhat upright. Slowly, Aizen released the Espada and gestured at the empty seat,

"Please sit back down Nnoitra." He commanded with a friendly tone. The Espada in question quickly sat back down, unwilling to be humiliated further over something like this. Grimmjow laughed as much as his injuries would allow,

"That's right Nnoitra, you sit when your master commands you to!" he jeered before coughing up blood violently. Szayel raised an eyebrow at the former Espada and chuckled lightly,

"You don't exactly seem to be in the best situation to be insulting Nnoitra." He noted dryly, pushing his glasses up with a small smile. Grimmjow growled a little before spitting at the pink-haired scientist,

"Go fuck your test tubes Szayel." He quipped with a snarl. The eighth Espada scowled but before he could answer in kind, Luppi spoke up,

"Oh I just noticed that you're finally where you belong Grimmjow… kneeling before me." The new sixth Espada smiled cruelly down at the blue-haired Arrancar. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow and looked to Yammi,

"You guys let the fag back in?" he asked, smirking when Yammi laughed loudly at the joke while Luppi fumed,

"I'll kill you for that Grimmjow!" he declared heatedly, reaching for his sword. A pale hand stopped him. Luppi looked up at Ulquiorra with a scowl, "What the hell Ulquiorra?"

The emotionless Espada raised an eyebrow,

"It seems that I am making a habit of stopping sexta Espada from doing stupid things…" he drawled, much to the amusement of the other Espada. Both Luppi and Grimmjow scowled,

"Fuck you Ulquiorra." They both said at the same time, causing them both to glare at each other again. Aizen tapped the table lightly with a finger, returning all attention to himself once again,

"I would like it if my Espada were silent to hear the rest of the meeting…" he said, seemingly musing to himself. The Arrancar all got the implied command and immediately sat up attentively in their seats and were silent. Aizen nodded a little, "And the other Kaname?"

Tosen nodded and pushed his second captive onto her knees in front of the assembled Espada. Nnoitra's eye widened and he stood up again with a snarl,

"HER!" he roared, reaching for his Zanpakuto in his anger. A second later he was frozen, Tosen's Zanpakuto's tip at his throat. Aizen turned to look at the tall Espada,

"Be seated Nnoitra." He commanded bluntly. The Arrancar obliged immediately, but was unable to keep the scowl away. Aizen looked down at the now fully re-grown Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, "I apologise for his behaviour Nelliel."

Nelliel simply shook her head,

"A beast never learns." She replied with a sigh, causing Nnoitra's eye to begin twitching madly as he forced to control his bubbling rage. Harribel nodded her head in agreement,

"Words of wisdom Nelliel-san." She affirmed; her voice soft. Nelliel seemed to brighten up considerably at Harribel's comment,

"Tia-chan! I've missed you!" the green haired Arrancar announced with a wide smile. Aizen was sure that the only reason she hadn't rushed to hug his Espada was because she knew that there would be punishment for doing so. Harribel merely waved her hand, as if waving the comment away. Starrk put on a fake pout,

"And what about me, Nell-san?" he tried to fight a yawn but was unsuccessful, causing the green hair Arrancar to giggle,

"Of course I've missed you Starrk-kun!" she giggled again, "I even missed grumpy grandpa Baraggan!"

The segunda Espada adopted a twitch in his left eye, much like the one that Nnoitra was still sporting,

"I thought I told you never to call me that." He tried to intimidate the childish Arrancar but Nelliel seemed to take no notice, even giggling at his attempt at intimidation,

"Oh you're so funny grandpa wrinkle king!" she announced, causing complete silence to descend upon the room. Grimmjow, despite being in a critical state already, decided to kick the proverbial hornet's nest. He grinned,

"Grandpa Wrinkle King?" he asked, grinning widely while the other Espada looked at him as if her were mad. Except for Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra remained impassive as usually, as if he already thought that Grimmjow was mad. Aizen decided to quickly change the subject, so as to keep most of his Espada alive,

"Regardless, it is time that we talked about the purpose for today's meeting. We are here to discuss potential punishments for these two former Espada for their part in aiding the invaders of Hueco Mundo." He noticed that everyone in the room had suddenly sobered, "Are there any suggestions?"

Aaroniero held up a hand and Aizen nodded for him to continue,

"Respectfully Aizen-sama… **I would like to have**… at least one of them to… **devour and take strength from**… preferably the green haired one." The masked Espada requested. There were a few nods around the room, especially from Nnoitra, but Aizen shook his head,

"I'm afraid not Aaroniero. You have already been given a power boost recently." He noticed that the masked Espada's large head seemed to dip slightly to convey his regret at not gaining new strength. Nnoitra opened his mouth to speak but Aizen shook his head before his could, "No Nnoitra."

The lanky Espada growled a little and went into something that remarkably resembled a huff but Aizen wasn't too sure as he had never studied such activities. He raised an eyebrow,

"No more suggestions?" none of the Espada moved to speak, "Then they will be-"

Aizen stopped suddenly as he suddenly felt something tugging at the back of his mind. The assembled Espada looked at their oddly still leader and Tosen made to touch his master,

"Aizen-sama… is there something wrong?" the blind man asked gently. Aizen shook his head to clear it a little before nodding,

"Yes there is something wrong Tosen." He turned to his Espada, "It seems that someone with very good reiatsu dampening abilities has broken into Las Noches. Any guesses as to who it could be?"

The Espada all thought about it for a few moments. Starrk spoke up first,

"It would have to be a Captain if their reiatsu dampening skills are that good." He announced tiredly. Szayel pushed at his glasses,

"Not necessarily. It could be someone with appalling skills but a special device designed to dampen reiatsu. I daresay that the scientist Shinigami would be capable of something like that." He argued with a small frown, as he had yet to get over his defeat at the hands of the painted Shinigami. Aizen was about to tell them who it was when Ulquiorra spoke up,

"Kurosaki Ichigo." He announced calmly, causing complete silence to reign over the meeting room. Aizen clapped softly a few times with an easy smile,

"Well done Ulquiorra. It is indeed Kurosaki Ichigo." This statement sent the other Espada into a flurry of whispers which he silenced with a wave of his hand, "Take the two former Espada to their new cells. And I suppose we should send an Espada to meet Kurosaki at the door. Now… who to pick?"

* * *

**As you may have guessed, this is where we break for a poll! I want you to review with your choice of opponent for Ichigo. I must insist that Grimmjow and Nelliel not be requested, as they are prisoners now and not Espada. **

**Also, Ulquiorra is not to be chosen as I plan on having a huge battle between Ichigo and Ulquiorra after Ichigo has burnt his way through Las Noches.**

**Remember; Review or this story dies!**

**Next time;**

**A challenger approaches! Fight for your foothold, Ichigo!**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own anything used within this story except perhaps the plot I'm using, although it is probably heavily influenced by other writers.

_**Note: I said I would continue this story if it got over 65 reviews. It took a long time and 66 reviews but I did it. Don't ever call me a liar :)**_

Hollow **– ****What I've felt**

Zanpakuto – _What I've know_

Human/Shinigami/Arrancar – Never shine through in what I've shown

All – _**Never free; Never me; So I dub thee Unforgiven**_

* * *

The Unforgiven

While Aizen was debating which Espada to send out to meet Ichigo he felt the twinge at the back of his mind grow stronger, suggesting that the suppressed reiatsu was fast approaching. Smiling a little he remained silent and simply sat back in his throne. Gin titled his head to the side slightly,

"Are ya not gunna pick an Espada then Aizen-sama?" he asked with a slight dip in his perpetual grin, as close as the man ever came to a frown. Aizen smiled a little more,

"Of course not Gin." He replied coolly, not taking his eyes off of the door at the end of the meeting room. The Espada began to look around, concerned that their master was seeing something that they couldn't. Baraggan scowled a little and looked up at Aizen,

"What are you waiting for?" he growled in his gruff and low voice, "Who are you sending?"

Tosen's hand went to his Zanpakuto, clearly intent on disciplining the second Espada for such an outburst. Aizen waved his hand casually at Tosen, who froze for a second before bowing his head and letting his hand drift away from his sword. Grimmjow suddenly began to laugh, a rough barking sound that came from his fatigue and wounds. The Espada looked at their disgraced former member with a wide range of expressions. Yammi was confused , Aaroniero looked like a weird fishbowl, Szayel looked intrigued but otherwise unconcerned, Zommari had his eyes closed and was attempting to ignore the laughter, Luppi was giggling to himself as he believed Grimmjow had gone insane,Nnoitra was scowling at the blue haired Arrancar, Ulquiorra raised an indifferent eyebrow but otherwise didn't react. The top three Espada and the Shinigami in the room, all had unreadable expressions aside from Gin's grin and Aizen's self-assured smile. Nnoitra's scowl grew and he stood up,

"What's with the god damn laughing?" he demanded angrily, "There ain't nothing to laugh about you weakling! You and that weak woman are going to be dead soon anyway!"

Nelliel, who up until this point had been rather silent, smiled widely and clapped her hands childishly,

"Yay! He's coming to help us Grimmy!" she cried happy, while patting at still laughing Grimmjow on the shoulder excitedly. Grimmjow stopped laughing long enough to scowl at Nelliel,

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" he snapped at her before grinning insanely up at the assembled Espada, "I'm laughing because he's here already you fuckwits!"

He cackled wildly again and Zommari opened his eyes to glare at Grimmjow,

"No Shinigami is fast enough to reach this room in so little time." He declared venomously, "Not even the captain I fought."

Grimmjow's grin widened almost impossibly and he threw his hands up in the air,

"COME ON THEN!" he roared as loud as he could, "SHOW THEM THE POWER THAT DEFEATED ME!"

An explosion rocked the entire room, shattering the cups of tea and shaking the walls and floor. Eyes widened around the table as the suppressed reiatsu suddenly became very much unsuppressed, forcing its way through the stone of the walls to press against them with its dark and heavy feel. The double doors to the meeting room exploded inwards, black flame-like reiatsu engulfing them and burning reducing them to ashes in an instant. The weaker Espada felt their chests tighten as the reiatsu effected them directly, no walls to dampen the effects. In the now wide open doorway stood a Shinigami, his robes tattered and worn slightly and with evidence of blood in some places. A giant cleaver-like sword was attached to his back casually but his black hair had him at odds with the image of the 'orange-haired hybrid' that the more powerful of them had been expecting. Looking up with a small scowl, the Shinigami looked down at the kneeling Grimmjow and Nelliel,

"Oi Grimmjow!" he called out with the scowl growing deeper, "I don't respond to your commands."

Grimmjow laughed gleefully, ready to watch his greatest opponent either die horribly or defeat enough of the Espada so that he would be seen as more powerful having survived a fight with the Shinigami,

"Screw you Kurosaki!" he shot back with the same wild grin, "You were gunna do it anyway! And what the hell did you do to your hair? Trying to pretend you're like a normal person?"

Ichigo's scowl lifted long enough for him to smirk at Grimmjow,

"Says the guy with bright blue hair." He shot back, enjoying how the comment angered the Arrancar. Aizen clapped his hands a few times, redirecting Ichigo's attention,

"Well done Kurosaki-kun!" his false smile grew slightly more genuine, "I am most surprised that you were able to almost completely suppress your reiatsu. And your hair color… tell me Kurosaki-kun… are the rumors about a 'Code Yellow' true?"

Ichigo scowled even more at the mention of the project that had remade him as he was, having been scowling since Aizen had first begun speaking. He drew Zangetsu from his back and held the blade softly in his right hand,

"It doesn't matter anymore Aizen…" his scowl grew fiercer, "I'm going to use every advantage I can get to kill you!"

Aizen chuckled lightly and waved it off with a small smile,

"Oh but Kurosaki-kun…" his smile turned into more of a grin, "That's why I have the Espada. Yammi."

At the command Yammi disappeared from his seat at the table, using a burst of sonido to fly at Ichigo with the intent of knocking his head clean off his shoulder with one punch. Seeing the Espada move, almost as if in slow motion, Ichigo tilted his head slightly to one side and pushed lightly at Yammi's side to send the much larger Arrancar sprawling. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Aizen,

"You intend to send your Espada at me?" he asked with a small smile. Inside his mindscape Hichigo was now jumping up and down for joy at the prospect of fighting so many 'good' opponents, while even Zangetsu had the beginnings of a smile. Ichigo watched as Yammi picked himself back up off the floor and decided to even the playing fields. With a small smile, Ichigo embedded Zangetsu in the stone floor and moved into a casual fighting stance of the Second Division, falling back into the combat memories of such Hakuda masters as former captains Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara along with the current captain of the second division, Suì-Fēng. He smirked a little.

Who said Code Yellow was all bad?

Yammi roared loudly, in rage and humiliation, and charged at Ichigo again; pulling his right fist back before throwing the strongest punch he could at Ichigo's chest. Ichigo batted the strike away calmly, twirling artfully to the side with a taunting smile. This served to further infuriate Yammi, causing him to vocalize his rage as another roar and attack Ichigo with the same kind of over-powered punch at before. Jumping at the last second, Ichigo landed on to of Yammi's massive fist as it buried itself in the stone of the floor. Looking straight into the Arrancar's eyes from his position on top of his fist, Ichigo titled his head to the side and gave a mocking smile, oddly reminiscent of his inner hollow,

"Is that all you got?" he taunted with a grin. Yammi opened his mouth in response, firing a point blank cero straight at Ichigo. Concentrating, Ichigo forced some of his impressive reiatsu into his left hand before batting the doom blast aside as if it were an annoying fly. At Yammi's shocked expression, Ichigo held up his perfectly unharmed left hand, "Oh dear… I think that really is all you have."

Roaring again in rage, Yammi pulled his hand out of the floor, causing Ichigo to jump off casually, before reaching for his sword,

"I'll kill you! I'll destroy you… you…!" he struggled to find an appropriate insult with his very limited intellect before deciding to use Ulquiorra's favorite, "You trash! I'll destroy you!"

Ichigo, still smiling to taunt Yammi, side stepped the savage downward slash before laughing a little as he jumped over the low swing of the blade. The ease with which Ichigo avoided his attacks sent Yammi even further into a rage and he began to hack and slash wildly in Ichigo's general direction. Now having quite a bit of fun, Ichigo barely moved as he avoided Yammi's wide attacks, moving to the side a little to avoid being impaled and ducking minutely to avoid losing his head. And all the while he never once did anything to defend against the blade or to attack Yammi in return. Aizen, and the rest of the Espada, watched with fascination as Ichigo effortlessly dodged each and every one of Yammi's attacks without any visible effort. Yammi became aware of this and redoubled his assault to avoid the embarrassment of being beaten by an opponent without a sword. Ichigo, still smiling, continued to dodge, not once touching the blade even to block. His temper fraying even more than it already had, Yammi growled in frustration before latching onto an idea. Talk of loved ones often affects Shinigami negatively in battle and he had two ideas in mind that were perfect. He grinned a little and broke away from Ichigo,

"Hey Shinigami! Why don't you actually fight me instead of just blocking?" his grin grew larger, "Or are you a coward like that red pineapple and the midget? They begged for their lives as I-"

The breath left Yammi in such a rush that he wouldn't have been surprised if its exit had damaged his lungs. His eyes widened as he realised what had happened. A now completely unsmiling Ichigo Kurosaki has attacked him, punching him in the stomach with so much force that it sent loose stones around them flying away. Before he could think of counter attacking, Ichigo backhanded the Espada round the side of the face, sending the larger Arrancar spinning to the floor. Yammi tried to pick himself up, pulling himself onto his hands and knees. Ichigo scowled and a low growl came from him as he vanished from sight for an instant, reappearing at Yammi's side with a vicious kick which lifted the Arrancar up off of the floor and up into the stone ceiling, which cracked under the impact.

Yammi spat out blood as he began to fall back to the floor, his mind whirling as he tried to process how the Shinigami had become so ruthless when he'd been so full of doubt when they'd fought in the human world. His thoughts were interrupted with Ichigo, blurring out of shunpo, grabbed hold of his face and smashed the back of his head into the wall, burying it in the stone. Before Yammi could react they were moving, Ichigo relentlessly dragging Yammi, head-first, through the stone. After circling the entire room once, Ichigo roared in anger before flinging Yammi away from him.

Speeding like an Arrancar-meteor, Yammi smashed into the meeting table, shattering it with his velocity. The remaining Espada, and three Shinigami traitors, escaped the impact point with bursts of either sonido or shunpo but the wounded Grimmjow and captive Nelliel had to make do with shielding their eyes from the splintering wood. Yammi, his head bleeding in various places and bruises already starting to develop, stood up shakily and held his sword out in front of him,

"Buchikirero Ir-" he was stopped again when Ichigo appeared just inches in front of him, his hand gripping the blade of Yammi's Zanpakuto tightly. He tried to pull it free but found the Shinigami's grip was too strong for him to break. Ichigo's emotionless mask slipped momentarily and his eyes burned with rage,

"You will never release that abomination again." He declared with finality as he concentrated some reiatsu in the hand holding the Arrancar's sword. To Yammi's utter horror, Ichigo closed his hand, shattering the Zanpakuto as if it were glass. Acting out of instinct he tried to back away but Ichigo grabbed hold of his face, his fingertips digging into his hierro. Ichigo locked eyes with Yammi and the Arrancar found himself completely frozen by the killer intent behind those eyes,

"_Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!_" Ichigo declared deliberately, earning raised eyebrows from the Shinigami traitors and wide eyed disbelief from Yammi as the red ball of reiatsu formed just millimeters from Yammi's face, "Hado 31! Shakkahō!"

The fire based kido spell erupted violently into a beam of concentrated reiatsu, not unlike a hollow's cero attack. It quickly engulfed Yammi's head and carried on after it, blasting a hole clear through several walls. The remaining Espada watched with some trepidation as Ichigo threw Yammi's headless body away from him with careless disregard for the 'life' he'd just ended.

* * *

Ichigo turned his still burning eyes onto Aizen, who raised an eyebrow even as he fought against his body's natural urge to shiver at the intense killer intent behind the stare,

"Aizen." He spoke, his voice sounding a lot calmer than the anger his eyes were displaying, "Give me Orihime. Now."

Aizen shook his head a little before looking down the line at his remaining Espada,

"Aaroniero. Zommari." He nodded in Ichigo's general direction, "Destroy him. Szayel. Record this fight for data from you lab."

Three of the assembled Arrancar disappeared with bursts of sonido and as soon as they did, Ichigo was acting. Holding his hand out flat he sent out a pulse of his reiatsu, causing Zangetsu to fly through the air and land comfortably in his hand. As soon as his sword was in his hand he spun around on the spot to face the opposite direction, bringing his leg up as if to kick an invisible enemy as he brought his blade up in front of his face to block something.

Both Aaroniero and Zommari emerged from their sonido exactly where Ichigo had predicted. Zommari's eyes widened as what was meant to be a slash at the Shinigami's back had been suddenly blocked by a frontal parry, Ichigo having turned on the spot in less than a second to stop his blade cold. Aaroniero was not so lucky. When he burst out of sonido he had intended to attack head on as a distraction for Zommari but Ichigo had predicted such a tactic and his foot slammed into the fishbowl-like head of Aaroniero just as he emerged from sonido, slamming the ninth Espada into the wall on the other side of the room. Zommari, realising that he was now fighting a superior opponent on his own, tried to make some distance between himself and the Shinigami using a quick burst of his legendary sonido. Ichigo stood where he was before he sighed a little,

"Why are you putting so much distance between us?" he asked suddenly, shocking Zommari a little by the strange question before he continued, "Distance only has meaning in a fight between equals. With you and I, distance holds no meaning at all."

Zommari's eyes widened with rage and he gripped his Zanpakuto tighter,

"You are arrogant Shinigami!" he shouted at Ichigo with a vicious scowl, "You're kind are all the same! You look down on us hollows but we shall surpass you in all ways!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow,

"But watch. If I do this…" he blurred out of existence before reappearing inches in front of an utterly terrified Zommari with the tip of Zangetsu placed at the Arrancar's throat, "My blade is almost instantly at your neck."

Aaroniero burst out of another use of sonido, appearing beside Ichigo in an instant with his fist pointed at the Shinigami. Ichigo raised an eyebrow but Aaroniero's fist began to glow a pale yellow and his distorted voice called out,

"Bala." Before a bullet shaped mass of pale yellow sped at Ichigo at an incredible speed. Ichigo narrow his eyes and vanished before the attack could hit him, allowing the hollow bullet to smash Aizen's unoccupied throne to pieces. Aaroniero and Zommari both looked around before Aaroniero made toward Zommari, "Are you… **still battle ready**… Zommari?"

Zommari was about to respond when Aaroniero's back erupted with sickly green ooze that both Espada quickly realised was the strange Arrancar's blood. Ichigo, having not visibly appeared behind Aaroniero to strike the blow, blurred into view in front of Aaroniero, his own fist pulled back and glowing a dark red,

"Let's see if my hollow's attempt is better." He declared darkly as he thrust his glowing fist forwards, "Bala!"

The dark red hollow bullet slammed into Aaroniero's helmet with such power that the metal casing buckled inwards, creating a large dent, while the force behind the blast sent Aaroniero spinning end over end into, and through, the nearest wall. Ichigo turned to Zommari, bringing Zangetsu up to counter the Arrancar's wild slash,

"You Shinigami scum! I shall destroy you!" he roared, throwing a cero at Ichigo with his free hand. Ichigo frowned a little but otherwise showed no reaction as the cero engulfed him. Zommari sonidoed away, his sword held up as he was aware that a cero from him would not be able to defeat such a powerful opponent on its own. As the dust cleared, Ichigo was nowhere to be seen. Zommari's eyes widened again and he once again used sonido to put more distance between himself and where the blast had detonated. A cold hand clasped his left shoulder from behind and Zommari froze instantly,

"I told you already…" Ichigo began in a dangerously low voice, "With you and I, distance holds no meaning."

With that comment Ichigo focused his will and an unnamed version of his Getsuga Tenshō into the Arrancar's back, letting go of his shoulder as he did so. The seventh Espada screamed in pain as the blue crescent of energy burned at his back and forced him into the floor with savaged force, cutting his scream short as the breath left his body. Ichigo stood there, silently, with Zangetsu held in a casual ready stance. Zommari didn't disappoint Ichigo's paranoia. Standing upright as the dust cleared, Zommari was battered and burnt badly in several places but he was still very much alive. The seventh Espada held his sword up,

"Shizumare; Brujería!"he declared firmly, immediately engulfing himself in his reiatsu as his Zanpakuto unsealed. Ichigo watched impassively as a large amount of dust accompanied the sharp increase in Zommari's reiatsu levels. The other Espada were watching with more interest now, Starrk had even opened his eyes to watch. But Aizen was focused entirely on Ichigo, trying to get a read on the exact power of the Shinigami facing up against his seventh Espada's release form without batting an eyelid. He was almost sure that the young hybrid was hiding the true extent of his power. After all, the limiting factor in the man's strength had been his experience and now that he had the combined experience of at least thirteen captains it was no longer a problem. He was able to deduce that Ichigo had most likely mastered his shikai, as he wasn't relying on his bankai as he would have done before.

The dust finally settled to reveal Zommari's transformation, into what appeared to be a very ugly vase or a bottom heavy weeble. His lower body had transformed into what looked like a blossoming flower while the white armor of a hollow had all but covered up Zommari's upper body. Ichigo blinked a few times before laughing,

"You've got to be kidding me!" he laughed again, causing a tick mark to appear on Zommari's forehead, "That's your release? You couldn't match up with me before; this just makes you a sitting duck!"

Zommari growled a little and the flower of his lower body was suddenly covered in eyes, all of them open and straining to stare at Ichigo,

"I have the power to take control over any part of the body my eyes can see…" he grinned madly up at Ichigo, "And my eyes see everything!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and disappeared from sight even as the air's reiatsu changed, becoming saturated with Zommari's power. Zommari's eyes widened as Ichigo disappeared from his sight, from every one of his eyes,

"Impossible!" he roared enraged as he could sense Ichigo was still in the room but he couldn't see him with any of his eyes, "This cannot be! I SEE EVERYTHING!"

Ichigo seemingly appeared in front of Zommari, running around the stationary Espada with a cocky grin. Zommari focused all of his eyes on tracking the moving image of Ichigo before he realised what was happening. Ichigo was moving so fast that none of his eyes could see him, only his after image and his eyes held no power over an after image. Seeing the horror of recognition dawn on his opponent's face, Ichigo's grin widened,

"I don't suppose Aizen ever told you but shunpo is not something that varies with power. You aren't faster because you're stronger." He smirked a little, "Shunpo is a technique. And as such there are those who have mastered said technique to the point that they travel almost beyond the ability of anyone but another master to see. I have the combined experience and technique of fifteen captains and former captains of Soul Society in my head. Did you really think my speed could be followed, let alone matched, by someone like you?"

Aizen's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. He was so very proud of Kurosaki's adaptation to the memories that had been implanted into him. After all, Code Yellow had been suggested to the head of the Shinigami research division by Aizen himself. A pawn with the collective fighting knowledge of all of the captains in Soul Society was just too tempting an offer for him to pass up and he could not have picked a better candidate than Kurosaki if he'd been able to pick anyone. The boy's potential for growth knew no bounds. Even with all of the experience of Soul Society's greatest, he could tell, in the back of his mind, that the boy still had more to give. Still had more power to be untapped. Zommari was not admiring the being created by Code Yellow though. He was much too busy cursing him,

"DAMN YOU SHINIGAMI!" he screamed out as he once again failed to lock onto Ichigo with any of his eyes, "I AM BETTER THAN YOU! HOLLOWS ARE SUPERIOR TO SHINIGAMI! SO WHY? WHY DO YOU EVADE ME?"

Ichigo blurred into existence directly in front of Zommari but strangely didn't stop blurring. At the edges of his person he was blurred, as if still in motion. Slowly he raised Zangetsu point first up into the air, the blade humming with pent up energy as it began to glow blue. Zommari focused all of his power on his forwards facing eyes but still it had no effect. Aizen and his fellow traitors knew the technique. It was a tactic made by Yoruichi Shihōin, the Goddess of Flash, herself. By using constant shunpo across three distances the user was able to appear to be the center of the three positions when they were actually constantly in motion. But when Yoruichi had demonstrated it to the other captains and vice-captains it had been unfinished, she had flickered a lot more than Ichigo was doing right now. It was testament to how much improved even Yoruichi Shihōin could be if she had the knowledge and experience of all the other shunpo masters of Soul Society. Ichigo shook his head sadly,

"The time has come for you to pass on Zommari Rureaux." He declared calmly, Zangetsu now visibly vibrating with the effort of containing the building energy, "I hope you've lead a life without regrets. Because it ends today."

Zommari, his eyes bugged out and wild, shook his head madly,

"NO! THIS CANNOT BE!" he raved as he began firing Bala and Cero from his hands at Ichigo, each attack going straight through the seemingly solid Ichigo, "YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY SHINIGAMI!"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes before shaking his head a little,

"Wrong." He ground out with a scowl, "I'm a hybrid. A Vizard."

Zommari looked towards the passively watching Aizen,

"Save me! Save me Aizen-sama!" he pleaded pitifully as he noticed his release form was having no effect on Ichigo, "I have served you loyally! Save me!"

Aizen thought about declining the offer for a few seconds but realised that he still needed the Espada on side and denying the request would weaken his hold over the others. After all, why would they fight for him if he saw them as disposable? The simple answer was that they wouldn't. He mentally sighed a little but waved at Luppi,

"Luppi. Save Zommari." He ordered with the same deceptive calm he did everything when in the presence of any living being. The effeminate Espada nodded his head before using sonido to reach Zommari and grab hold of his shoulder. Just before Luppi could sonido them both to safety, Grimmjow attacked. Using the last of his energy, the blue haired former Espada fired a Bala at Luppi, knocking the sixth Espada onto his face between Ichigo and Zommari. By the time Luppi had thought to look up all he could see with Grimmjow's grinning face a few feet away, past the unmistakable crescent that Ichigo was in the middle of releasing,

"Getsuga Tenshō!" he roared, forcing as much free reiatsu into the attack as he could. The blue wave of energy crashed into Luppi before he could escape, leaving the small Espada to struggle against the energy even as it burnt his hands down to the bone. Luppi's resistance to the attack crumbled and the wave of bright blue energy crashed down on both the sixth and seventh Espada. Their screams were short lived.

Feeling the combined energy of both Espada disappear, Ichigo stopped his high speed technique and became more focused. Having used a lot of energy, both in the maintaining of such a high speed outside of his bankai and using enough energy to destroy both the unreleased sixth and the released seventh Espada in one attack, Ichigo wobbled on the spot for a moment before he fell to one knee, his breathing heavy.

The Espada were in awe.

This one Shinigami, someone they had looked down on as a weak opponent when he'd invaded their palace the first time with his friends, had defeated four Espada while only using his shikai, when before he'd had to use bankai to beat even former Espada. The change was staggering. Even Ulquiorra had his eyes wide open so as to better observe the change in the one Shinigami to have defeated him, even if it had been by using hollow powers. Aizen began to clap, an act that only Gin mirrored,

"Well done Kurosaki-kun!" he congratulated the young Shinigami as if he'd simply won a small fete or something, "You've grown so much in so little time. I must say, this is unexpected. Especially your mastery of your shikai. Tell me, how did you manage that when just a few short months ago you had to use your bankai for every fight?"

Ichigo looked up at Aizen with a scowl but knew that he shouldn't waste this opportunity to rest up and recover some of his reiatsu,

"It wasn't that hard really." He replied after a pause of a few moments, "My Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, is fully behind me now in my every endeavor, as is the other half of my power. Not to mention the memories of Captains are in my head now. I know how to use a shikai properly now. As a famous captain once said, 'The best show of strength in a Shinigami is not having a bankai but having a bankai and not having to use it.' The truth is I learnt that only a short while ago."

Aizen's smile grew just a little wider,

"Very wise words Kurosaki-kun." He agreed, "I myself live by those words. No one living has seen my bankai and it shall remain so."

Gin's grin grew a little wider,

"That and ya never really have to use more than shikai, eh Aizen-sama?" he teased a little. Aizen closed his eyes and nodded,

"Indeed Gin. It appears that no one is strong enough to defeat my shikai." He chuckled mirthlessly, "Let alone my bankai."

Ichigo slowly rose to his feet again, more confident in his strength now. He pointed Zangetsu at Aizen,

"I will ask one more time Aizen." He narrowed his eyes, "Give me Orihime."

Aizen raised an eyebrow,

"Oh? And what would you do then?" he asked with a small smirk, "You've run out of people to protect Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo's eyes widened and his reiatsu spiralled off of him dangerously, the black tendrils starting to burn the ground on which he stood,

"And who's fault would that be?" he hissed angrily at Aizen. The traitorous Shinigami smiled broadly before poking his finger over his shoulder at the first Espada, Starrk,

"He executed two of your friends." He smirked when Ichigo's grip on his sword visibly tightened, "And Baraggan killed your two little sisters in cold blood."

* * *

Ichigo felt himself slip into his inner world, the broken stone floor of the Espada meeting room replaced with the side of the skyscraper that he'd become accustom to standing on when entering his world. There was something wrong with his world though. It was raining again but this rain was heavier than ever before, so much so that the beginnings of a flood could be seen at the very bottom of his inner world. He looked around for his two inner spirits but he didn't really have to, as both spirits had sought him out. Hichigo was trying desperately to keep his new kitten, Tiddles, out of the rain by hiding him in his clothes but the cat was quickly becoming afraid of the rain. Zangetsu too looked a lot less than happy, his long hair plastered all along his face and his sunglasses slowly beginning to slide off of his face. Ichigo growled angrily,

"That bastard's baiting us…" he ground out heavily, "He knows I'll go after one of them and the other will get away with what they've done because I won't be powerful enough to defeat both of them in a row! GAH!"

The windows all along the sky scraper exploded outwards, the glass shards joining the rain on the trip down to the rapidly flooding streets bellow. Hichigo growled his agreement,

"**He's a tricky bastard alright.**" He spat down at the ground, "**But he's also got the Princess. Either way you don't have the time or the energy for two massive fights at a time and saving Orihime! You'd need to be three people to get it all done!**"

Zangetsu, who had been quietly letting the two vent some anger, smiled a little bit,

"_Ichigo does indeed have to be in three places at once._" He agreed but his smile began to turn into a full blown smirk, "_But there are three of us._"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he caught on to what his Zanpakuto was suggesting,

"Of course!" he smacked himself on the head for not thinking of it, with the collective bankai training of so many captains running through his head, "It's brilliant Zangetsu!"

Hichigo, who had not gotten it, was now pretty annoyed,

"**Hey!**" he shouted, catching their attention, "**Someone want to explain this plan to me? Especially seeing as it somehow involves me.**"

Zangetsu smiled, a hint of wickedness behind the soft expression,

"_The first stage of training for bankai is to materialise the spiritual form of your Zanpakuto._" His smile grew even more wicked and a glint entered his eye not often seen on the serene spirit, "_What very few Shinigami realise is that once they achieve bankai the materialisation is strengthened. So much so that the spirit of their Zanpakuto… is made physical._"

Hichigo's eyes widened with the possibilities and when he caught sight of Ichigo's smirk he knew what they were planning. He slowly began to cackle, the insane laughter he was infamous for in this mindscape coming back as he thought of the fight ahead of him,

"**Oh yes!**" he laughed, "**This will be so much fun!**"

The rain began to slow to a drizzle and the streets began to drain of water.

* * *

Ichigo moved again, only a second having passed in the world he had left to converse with his resident spirits. His out of control reiatsu instantly pulled itself back under control, startling those watching with precisely how sudden the change was. One second the boy was pumping out vast amounts of reiatsu and was barely holding himself back from attacking and now… now he stood there calm and composed; a small smile in place and his reiatsu totally under his control. Aizen raised an eyebrow,

"You entered your inner world?" he asked, not really phrasing it as a sentence. It was the only way for someone's attitude to change so rapidly. Ichigo smiled and nodded a little bit,

"You see Aizen…" he smirked here as two new reiatsu signatures appeared behind Ichigo. One purely Shinigami and one purely hollow, the extremes of Ichigo's own signature. His smirk grew as two hands rested on his shoulders, one bleached white and the other a fleshy pink with some unruly brown hairs. To Ichigo's left a tall man with unruly brown hair, stubble, sunglasses and a dark overcoat stepped out, his right hand on Ichigo's shoulder and an exact copy of Zangetsu's shikai in his left hand. On Ichigo's right a completely bleached clone of the Shinigami stepped out, his left hand on Ichigo's right shoulder and a copy of Zangetsu (with the colouring reversed) in his right hand. The creepy bleached clone of Ichigo leant forwards with a manic grin that made even Nnoitra take a small step back,

"**Yo!**" the clone greeted them gleefully, "**I ain't got a name but if you must call me something… ya can call me Hichigo!**"

The man in the overcoat, the ends of which were fluttering in a non-existent breeze, simply nodded once at the assembled Espada and Shinigami traitors,

"_You have seen me before…_" he raised the exact copy of Zangetsu up so that it was resting on his shoulder, "_And you have seen my power before. I am Zangetsu._"

Aizen, unflappable master plotter that he was, blinked a few times in surprise. And it took a lot to surprise Aizen. After a few seconds of numb shock, which served as a bitter reminder to him that he was not an all-knowing god just yet, Aizen frowned a little,

"What is the purpose of materialising the spirits of your inner world Kurosaki?" he demanded firmly, "They are just spirits."

Hichigo grinned and gripped his version of Zangetsu tighter, sending a burst of hollow reiatsu out from him as he did so,

"**We're real enough to cut ya Aizen!**" he declared with a cackling laugh. Zangetsu nodded in agreement, albeit a lot more sedately than his albino partner,

"_He speaks the truth Aizen._" He announced calmly, "_When a Shinigami reaches perfect synchronisation with his inner spirits he can choose to make them physical when he manifests them. Ichigo has reached that level._"

Aizen's frown deepened as Ichigo grinned savagely, holding his Zangetsu at the ready,

"Alright guys! Here's the plan." He grinned a little, staring directly into the scowling face of Baraggan, "Hichigo! You get the lazy guy!"

Hichigo cackled gleefully and began to swing his sword by its cloth covering,

"**Hehe… I get the strongest…**" his insane grin grew, "**This is gunna be fun!**"

Starrk, who has been trying to ignore the whole affair, reluctantly drew his sword with a sigh,

"Great. I get the blood thirsty one." He sighed a little more, "Why couldn't I get the older guy? He looks like he enjoys sleeping in late too."

Ichigo ignored the banter and glared at Baraggan, pointing his sword directly at the old Arrancar,

"You." His eyes narrowed, "I will tear you apart for what you did to my little sisters."

Baraggan scowled even more,

"You dare to challenge the King?" he spat at Ichigo, "Impudent whelp. I shall send you to meet the whore that sired you."

Hichigo shook his head with a smile that was obviously supposed to be sad but was still bursting with glee,

"**Oh poor, poor grandpa.**" He teased, causing Baraggan to growl at him, "**You've made two crucial mistakes with that one sentence alone. First of all; never insult our mother. Second of all; HE IS THE KING!**"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and spat back at Baraggan,

"I am the King." He repeated his hollow's words, earning him a grin from his bleached clone, "And I shall have my revenge."

Zangetsu nodded to himself,

"_I suppose it is up to me to rescue Orihime then._" He noted, receiving a nod from Ichigo, "_Very well._"

Harribel moved out from the line of Espada,

"Then it shall be my job to stop you." She replied emotionlessly. Zangetsu and Harribel stared each other down for a long time before Zangetsu brought his blade into a ready position,

"_Then you shall fall today, Arrancar._" He vowed solemnly, watching carefully as Harribel also slid into a ready stance. Ichigo narrowed his eyes,

"We need to be serious guys." He glanced between his two inner spirits, "We can't take them lightly. They're the top three Espada."

"**I get ya kingy.**"

"_Understood Ichigo._"

All three tensed a little and began to gather reiatsu. Slowly, and as one, the held their sword straight out in front of them while holding their other arm straight out behind them, now standing side on to their opponents. The spiritual pressure broke the ground beneath their feet as the reiatsu began to glow blue around each other them. As one they looked up at their opponents, eyes glowing blue with the strength of their intent,

"_**Ban-Kai!**_"

* * *

**So it begins! **

**The battle for the ages!**

**Ichigo vs Baraggan!**

**Hichigo vs Starrk!**

**Zangetsu vs Harribel!**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own anything used within this story except perhaps the plot I'm using, although it is probably heavily influenced by other writers.

Note: Wow… it's been awhile guys. I'm assuming some of you still want to read this and that I'm not just writing this for myself. Because that would be sad :P

**Hollow – Click, click, boom!**

_Zanpakuto - Everybody come on!_

Human/Shinigami/Arrancar – Click, click, boom!

_**All – Click, click boom!**_

* * *

Click, Click, Boom

Black and red spiritual pressure rolled outward from the three men towards the Espada, causing them all to take a cautious step back, even Baraggan. It swirled menacingly in three, separate, hurricanes of power before the rush of spiritual pressure began to merge and become a wall of power.

Starrk opened his eyes fully for the first time since he'd been challenged by the pale version of the Shinigami. He clicked his fingers and Lilynette appeared beside Gin in a flash of sonido, a scared expression on her face even as Gin stood between her and the aggressive reiatsu. Regarding the traitorous Shinigami captain for a few seconds, Starrk noted the protective way he stood between Lilynette and the maelstrom of power before them and nodded thankfully to the perpetually grinning captain before turning back to watch the reiatsu beginning to die down.

Baraggan scowled darkly as the air became heavier and heavier with the Shinigami's reiatsu. Loath as he was to admit it, the boy's reiatsu from just releasing his sword was reaching levels that he himself had trouble reaching. His scowl deepened as the power began to roll inwards, condensing and focusing itself. Holding his right hand out, he narrowed his remaining eye and his Zanpakuto appeared in his hand instantly, the giant axe weighing nothing to him.

Harribel blinked a few times as the reiatsu forced the air towards her as rapid winds that had once been calm air. Her braid flapped madly in the wind as she stood there, arms folded, and tried to maintain her outer appearance of calm. Internally however, her mind was working quickly, in a flurry. She'd felt the Shinigami's reiatsu when in bankai back in the fake town in the world of the living and it had been nothing like this. Sure it was condensing just like it had been back then but back then there had been an air of instability. What she was feeling now was anything but. She could feel the aura of control that ran through every speck of reiatsu the release was giving off. The Shinigami was letting them feel some of his power. He wanted them to know his power before he fought them. Harribel reached back and pulled her sword free by the circle on the hilt, twirling it on her finger in an attempt to burn off some of her nervous energy.

Then, abruptly, the reiatsu was gone.

With the smokescreen of black and red reiatsu now completely gone, the three men stood transformed.

The pale version of the Shinigami was grinning madly, wearing a bleached version of the tattered trench coat that was universally known as part of Ichigo Kurosaki's bankai as much as the long diato, which was also, bleached white for the doppelganger. His mad grin was directed at Starrk, whose hand strayed to his katana for the first time. Idly, seemingly tossed his sword away, only to catch the last link of its chain and spin it carelessly as he continued to stare down the top Espada.

Ichigo Kurosaki, Human turned Substitute Shinigami turned Shinigami experiment, stood before the remaining Espada in the black trench coat that had grown to become a symbol of fear in the lower ranks of the Arrancar. The explosion of reiatsu from releasing his reiatsu had the rather strange effect of returning his hair to its original orange, instead of the dyed black. His face was a mask of calm even as he stared defiantly at Baraggan, the murderer of his family. Without visibly meaning to, Ichigo gripped his sword tighter and a short wave of colorless reiatsu burst from the blade, which seemed to vibrate, resonating, with restrained killing intent.

The Zanpakuto spirit's transformation was by far the strangest however, due in part to the fact that none of the Espada had ever seen the spirit before today in either form. Where he had been a middle aged man before, he now stood a good head of unkempt hair shorter. Holding the bankai blade in a casually light grip, the Zanpakuto spirit had seemingly shrunk from the older man into a thin teenager, slightly younger than his wielder by the looks of it.

Apparently the Espada weren't the only ones to find this transformation strange.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked, blinking rapidly in confusion as he regarded the teenager that stood in the place of his Zanpakuto spirit, "Where's old man Zangetsu?"

The teenager smiled a little, never taking his eyes off of his opponent, and raised his sword into a casual ready position,

"_You hold me in your hand, Ichigo."_ He replied, his voice light enough to make him sound even younger than he looked while still, somehow, conveying an unspoken measure of maturity, _"You know my name."_

Ichigo blinked once more in confusion before realization hit him and he smiled a little,

"Tensa Zangetsu." He announced quietly, but because no one else had been making a sound, it carried throughout the Espada's meeting room. Nnoitra spoke,

"That little kid is the source of your power? He's so small!" he declared, in amusement before scoffing, "This'll be over quick. Even a woman like Harribel can kick a kid around."

A tick mark appeared on Tensa Zangetsu's forehead and a watery growl echoed across the meeting room,

"_You making a size joke?"_ he asked the Espada before sticking his tongue out in an amazing display of childishness, _"Mr Compensation-Stick."_

Nnoitra went to stand and attack the Zanpakuto spirit when the teenage spirit grinned wickedly and released some of his spiritual pressure directly onto Nnoitra. The Espada's eyes widened as he was forced to one knee without any visible effort on Tensa's end. As Nnoitra dropped to both knees, Tensa Zangetsu gripped the sword in his hand tighter and the reiatsu suddenly vanished. Ichigo frowned a little,

"Enough playing around Tensa." He told his bankai spirit, wondering if he should call him Tensa or use his full name. When the spirit shrugged a little, he decided that he could call his bankai spirit Tensa without any problems. Hichigo rolled his eyes,

"**Can we get to the killing?"** he asked Ichigo in a whiny voice, which caused Starrk's eyes to narrow at the casual way he regarded killing, **"I want to hurry up and kill this guy!"**

Ichigo closed his eyes and breathed out with a sigh,

"I can't take you anywhere…" he muttered, mostly to himself, before nodding, "Alright then."

He turned back to Baraggan and the second Espada's eye widened momentarily as all of Ichigo's killing intent and reiatsu was focused on him for the first time. Brown eyes flashed blue with resolve,

"Go."

All three figured vanished in simultaneous flashes.

* * *

Harribel had barely enough time to raise her Zanpakuto to block the straight forward slash from the teenaged Zangetsu as the bankai spirit had appeared out of a flash step already in mid-attack, a bored expression on his face as he slashed with one hand, casually. The attack itself however was anything but casual.

The blow was deceptively strong, forcing Harribel's sword back until it was at her throat and pushing her backwards even as she dug her feet into the stone of the floor. With a grunt, Harribel used both hands to push Zangetsu's blade off of her own and used sonido to flash backwards a few steps to avoid being decapitated by Zangetsu's blindingly fast counterattack. As it was she only got a second to ready herself before the spirit flashed into existence to her right, his sword trailing behind him to slash at her right arm. Moving as fast as she could into a spin, Harribel's eyes widened slightly when the black blade cut through the skin of her arm like a hot knife through butter. Although it was only a small cut, it was still a surprise.

Zangetsu didn't let up for a second, slashing at her with blinding speed even as he put his unused right hand, his stronger hand, into his pocket. Part of Harribel felt she should be insulted that he viewed her as such a pitiful challenge that he could only use his weakest hand and still win but most of her agreed that, as they were now, the spirit outclassed her in all regards. Their blades locked as Zangetsu pressed against her Zanpakuto, intent on showing her exactly what the difference in their strengths was. Harribel narrowed her eyes,

"Ola Azul." She stated calmly, the blast of yellow reiatsu welling in the hollow of her sword forming and shooting out at Zangetsu in the space of a second. Zangetsu took the blast straight on as Harribel sonidoed backwards to get some more breathing room. When the smoke cleared, Tensa Zangetsu stood unharmed by the blast, only a small smile now on his face,

"_That's a nice attack."_ He commented idly as black and red energy began to dance up and down the length of his blade, _"Charging reiatsu into a blade and releasing it as an attack is something of a speciality of mine. You know this. However, you don't deserve to hear its name."_

Without speaking the name of Zangetsu's signature attack, and thus weakening said attack by about 80%, Zangetsu swung his blade at Harribel in a small flick. A small crescent of black and red energy rushed towards her with all the speed of a sonido. Harribel's eyes widened at the power behind the unnamed attack and slashed her own energy attack at it to cancel it out,

"Ola Azul." She said again, her yellow slash of energy colliding with Zangetsu's black and red moon fang and exploding violently. As Harribel was shielding her eyes, Tensa Zangetsu appeared in front of her in an instant, his blade pulled back over his head as it crackled with barely restrained power. Harribel wiped her blade up horizontally to block the overhead strike.

The power of the attack sent a shockwave through the air as the ground cracked beneath Harribel's feet. Eyes widening in what could visibly be seen as a mild form of panic, Harribel watched as a crack appeared in her Zanpakuto from the effort of stopping a Getsuga-charged Tensa Zangetsu. The spirit looked into Harribel's eyes emotionlessly,

"_Perhaps I was wrong."_ He announced, causing Harribel's eyes to widen further still as she caught onto what he meant moments too late, _"Getsuga Tenshō."_

An impossibly large dome of black and red energy bloomed forth as the destructive power of the moon fang exploded against Harribel's body, destroying floor after floor of Las Noches as the third Espada flew through layers of enhanced stone. She stopped in the absolute bottom level of Las Noches, her body burned all over and blood flowing freely from the cuts that going through stone floors had caused her. Tensa Zangetsu appeared a few feet in front of her without a sound, regarding her crumbled form casually,

"_You must realise Arrancar…"_ the teenager spirit began before narrowing his eyes, _"You cannot win. I have yet more power and you cannot even match this form. Abandon your hope Arrancar, for you die today."_

Harribel, her mask fragment broken by the massive power of the moon fang that had sent her through all those floors, managed to scowl a little before spitting blood in the general direction of the spirit,

"I'm not going to die today sword." She spat angrily as her hand closed around the hilt of her Zanpakuto and a yellow glow flashed in her eyes, "Attack, Tiburón!"

Tensa Zangetsu stood impassively as a mammoth globe of raging water appeared around Harribel and rushed towards him. Without moving, the teenage spirit sent out a pulse of his own reiatsu, which caused the waters to part around him. A white point appeared out of the raging waters before all of the water was forced away from them, flooding the basement level of Las Noches as Harribel was revealed. Tensa Zangetsu blinked a few times before the teenage Zanpakuto blushed red and looked away,

"_What is this…?"_ he muttered, embarrassed, _"Such a hentai release…"_

Harribel, shark-tooth weapon in hand and clad in a mini-skirt made of bones, frowned, her lips visible now in her released state,

"That's what you comment on?" she asked quietly, "You have forced an Espada into their release form and all you can comment on is my appearance?"

Tensa Zangetsu blushed a little more,

"_Forgive me…" _he muttered, _"Being a teenager… does weird things to me."_

Harribel was probably the Espada least likely to find anything funny (excluding the joyless wonder that was Ulquiorra) but at this remark even she couldn't control herself and she chuckled lightly at the embarrassed spirit,

"I would have thought you would be used to seeing a woman in states of undress. After all, Zanpakuto are part of their wielders so you must see what he had seen." She commented lightly, "And with a woman like that human girl…"

Tensa Zangetsu, if it was possible, grew even redder and shook his hands,

"_Oh no!"_ he objected, _"You don't understand! Ichigo and Orihime are just friends. Sure, Orihime is madly in love with the guy but he doesn't see her that way!"_

Harribel tilted her head to the side a little as she regarded Tensa Zangetsu curiously,

"You are aware that I have pressed their line of conversation in order to set you up for an attack." She commented with a small smile, "You still persisted in continuing the conversation though."

The waters that Harribel's release had flooded the basement level with were rushing towards Zangetsu at an unstoppable speed. The teenage spirit sighed a little,

"_Stupid hormones…"_ he muttered as the waves crashed in on him from all sides and crushed him with their strength.

Or that was what was supposed to happen anyway.

The water was forced back out with a wave of the black bankai blade and a concentration of reiatsu. Tensa Zangetsu stood, completely dry, now devoid of all embarrassment,

"_You will die Arrancar."_ He vowed quietly as he blurred forwards again. Harribel brought up the shark tooth weapon just in time to block his slash and water burst forth from the bone-like weapon to force the bankai blade away again. Tensa Zangetsu frowned a little bit but pressed forwards again, slashing with a Getsuga Tenshō held within his blade. Black and red enhanced blade met water encased shark tooth in a flashed of reiatsu, sending both of them flying back. Harribel pointed the shark tooth at the spirit as the tip became encased in water again,

"La Gota!" she declared firmly, her arm rocking back slightly as the bolt of water was propelled at Tensa Zangetsu at a massive speed. The spirit raised the bankai blade and slashed downwards, firing an unnamed Getsuga Tenshō that separated the blast into two jets, which passed him by harmlessly. Harribel, had to flash away with a burst of sonido as Zangetsu appeared just above where she'd been not seconds ago. Pointing her weapon at him, she began to fire cutting jet after jet of water at her young opponent, growing more and more frustrated as the Zanpakuto spirit dodged each and every attack she sent at him, not even bothering to use any attacks of his own. Growling in frustration, she was forced to sonido away as he approached her and repeat the process again and again. Her own reiatsu reserves were beginning to suffer from repeatedly using her higher level attacks so she held her aim steady and charged up her reiatsu,

"Cascada." She announced coldly, forcing a giant burst of water through her weapon towards her opponent, the sheer weight and strength of the rushing water enough to finish off any other opponent. As it was, when she cut off the attack, Tensa Zangetsu was still alive. He stood there, soaked through from head to toe, with his bankai blade now held firmly in both hands. He looked up into her eyes and Harribel took a step back from the hate she saw in those eyes,

"_I… HATE BEING WET!"_ he roared furiously at her, releasing a giant wave of energy at her with a strong slash, _"Getsuga Tenshō!"_

The black and red energy wave shot towards Harribel relentlessly, tearing up both the ceiling and the floor as it rushed towards her. The Espada's eyes widened and she pointed her shark tooth Zanpakuto at the wave,

"Cascada!" she shouted back, putting all of her power into the blast of water to try and overcome the black blast. She could feel her waters battling against the searing energy of the moon fang and she was beginning to think that he blast was winning when a hand gripped her right shoulder,

"_I take no pleasure in death."_ Tensa Zangetsu's emotionless voice whispered into her ear. Before she could think about attacking him, his bankai blade descended on her back, cutting through her reiatsu enhanced skin as if it was paper. Through skin, muscle and bone, the black blade carved its way down from her shoulder to her hip. The power behind the Cascada attack stopped and the attack faded almost instantly as Harribel lent forwards, using her shark tooth Zanpakuto as a prop to try and stay upright,

"Damn…" she muttered painfully through her mouthful of blood, "Damn it…"

Tensa Zangetsu, now in front of her, nodded once,

"_For what it's worth Arrancar…" _he paused when he noticed that he had her attention, _"I would have liked it better if you hadn't gotten involved in this."_

Without giving her a chance to respond, Tensa brought his blade up in an upwards swing, stopping the blade abruptly just before it touched her,

"_Getsuga Tenshō."_

* * *

**The other fights will come when I get the inspiration :D**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own anything used within this story except perhaps the plot I'm using, although it is probably heavily influenced by other writers.

Note: Here. Have another amazingly overhyped fight scene. There's plot in this thing somewhere… honest.

**Hollow – T****here is a place that still remains**

_Zanpakuto - I__t eats the fear it eats the pain_

Human/Shinigami/Arrancar – The sweetest price he'll have to pay

_**All – The day the whole world went away**_

The day the world went away

As soon as the Shinigami, or Vizard, or Human, or whatever he really was now (Starrk was too lazy to really care) had given the signal to begin, the bleached version of him was on him, bankai blade slashing down at him at an amazing speed. Of course he'd managed to draw his own katana to block the attack but his eyes widened ever so slightly as the force from the meeting of the two blades sent a shockwave out from the point of contact. Before he could think on it, the bleached out teenager was attacking again.

Once again their blades met in a spray of sparks and a small shockwave of displaced air. Starrk was seriously starting to get annoyed at the perpetually grinning opponent; he was putting his all into this fight as if it actually mattered. To Starrk this battle was utterly, utterly, pointless. Sure he'd killed two of the Shinigami/Vizard/human/whatever's friends but those were on orders. Besides, he should have been more annoyed at the other Shinigami for not seeing the tactic coming than for him being ordered to take advantage of the opportunity.

Again their blades clashed but this time Starrk pushed back just enough to lock the blades together so that his lazy, half-lidded, eyes were directly opposite the manically glinting eyes of his opponent. He opened his mouth to speak when his opponent beat him to it,

"Getsuga Tenshō!" he half-shouted, half-cackled. A dark red and black light glowed along the edge of the white bankai blade for a second, just long enough for Starrk to frown in annoyance, before the destructive wave slammed into his blade, pushing him back even as he dug his heels into the floor, his feet tearing up the stone in an effort to stop his momentum. With a small effort, Starrk slashed at the crescent of black energy and it split in two, both halves flying away from him. Instantly he knew something was wrong as the energy cleared.

His enemy wasn't in front of him anymore.

Even as fast as he could move, Starrk was too slow to completely avoid the slash that had come from behind him. It sliced through the top layer of the skin of his back but was unable to dig in deeper as Starrk had spun round, bring up his own katana to bat the white blade away with more force than he'd used so far. Starrk was getting annoyed now. Not only was he losing valuable, uninterrupted, nap-time because of this fight, he was also fighting an opponent that really wanted nothing more than to fight him. This would be exhausting if nothing else. Even now his opponent was not deterred by his miss. He was flying towards Starrk with a casual display of great speed, slashing rapidly at him until his white blade was nothing but a blur. Parrying each of the wild, but strangely co-ordinated, attacks, Starrk frowned a little and opened his eyes slightly more to show he was paying attention,

"What's your name?" he asked in the same tired and quiet voice that he'd used all through the Espada meeting. After all, he was still tired, "It feels strange not to know an opponent's name."

His opponent cackled madly and his slashes became faster and stronger still. The shockwaves of displaced air were beginning to damage nearby walls now as the two blades smashed against each other with in a casual display of amazing destructive force. Grinning even wider, his opponent pointed at him over their locked swords,

"**I don't have a name!" **he declared joyously as a red cero began to charge at his fingertip, **"But you can call me… horse."**

Distracted by the name – Who would proudly name themselves such a derogatory name? – Starrk almost forgot about the charging cero before he felt the heat on his face as the attack shot across the short distance between 'Horse' and him. In the second he got before it hit him directly in the face, Starrk estimated the strength of the blast and knew that it wasn't enough to really damage him. Taking the blast head on, Starrk batted it aside with his left hand while readying his defence with his right.

The defence saved him from losing his head as 'Horse' charged him, yet again using such speed that it was hard for even him to follow completely. He frowned as their blades locked together again. Feeling the blade being pushed closer to him, Starrk let out a long suffering sigh before pointing a finger at 'Horse' over their blades,

"Bala." He lazily announced, the condensed hollow bullet rocketing from his finger to hit the pale version of that Ichigo kid in the face. 'Horse' went spinning away, head over heels, before slamming into the ground and making a crater. Starrk looked down at him lazily, "Cero."

The attack would usually have been accompanied by a pose and some pointing motion to fire the cero from but Starrk merely stood there, bored, as the cero formed in front of his chest before blasting down at his downed opponent. The attack detonated powerfully and Starrk raised a hand in the direction Aizen and the remaining Espada had sonidoed away to,

"Sorry boss." He called out lazily, "But I may need to take this above the dome. After all-"

Starrk whirled round, catching his opponent's blade against his own with a barely perceivable grunt as he tried to absorb the strength of his grinning opponent's strike,

"-this fight is just beginning." He finished as he forced 'Horse' away with a great push. 'Horse' cackled a little as he began to spin his blade around by the small length of chain,

"**Oh you're just so funny!"** he announced in that strange, duel, voice, cackling as he had been doing for the past five minutes, **"You can't beat me!"**

Starrk scowled ever so slightly. Although he didn't really enjoy being strong (hated it at times) he liked to know that his power was at least respected. Mainly because if it was respected they'd let him sleep but still. He gripped his katana tighter and a lightly blue aura burst into life around him,

"I will cut you down." He announced firmly but quietly, "I will cut you down before defeating that Ichigo kid down there."

'Horse' attacked him in a flash that was hard for him to match but he did, their blades clashing and sending sparks all over the place. Again and again 'Horse' slashed at him with incredible speed, seemingly never tiring. Starrk matched each of his attacked with a defence but he was still starting to feel a little bit more fatigued as he'd already been tired before. As he was contemplating how to get Lilynette to him so that he could release once they were above the dome, his opponent attacked,

"**Getsuga Tenshō!"** he roared, the black and red wave launching at Starrk from point blank range as the inner hollow had launched it just as their blades struck against one another. As he was burned lightly down the front of his body, Starrk frowned a little deeper as he was sent sailing through the air from the force alone. Spinning in mid-air he kicked himself back off from a wall, noting absently that the wall crumbled from the force, before stopping in mid-air a fair distance from his opponent. 'Horse' was cackling, as he seemed to do a lot,

"**You think you can beat me?"** he shook his head before he stopped cackling and just smirked, instantly losing the aura of insanity and seemingly becoming infinitely more dangerous. The hair of the back of Starrk's neck stood up as the bleached out opponent in front of him lost his ecstasy from the battle and instead just looked darn right sadistic. He watched as his opponent's smirk grew a little as he watched his reaction, **"You can't beat me. And you know what? You certainly can't beat King!"**

Both of them disappeared in a flashed and a static sound of sonido, reappearing closer to the upper section of the dome which covered Las Noches. Their blades clashed countless times as the two opponents utilised their amazing speed. Eventually they broke off again and appeared apart from each other atop the dome of Las Noches. Starrk frowned a little,

"Tell me something…" he began, causing the still smirking 'Horse' to tilt his head to the side slightly, "You are the source of his hollow powers… correct? So why do you show so much respect for him? Surely he is only as powerful as you let him be."

'Horse' laughed a little, a creepy sound with his duel voice but an awful lot less creepy than his earlier mad cackles,

"**Well… let me put it this way…"** he grinned and began to spin his sword around by the chain again, **"What's the difference between a King and his Horse?"**

Starrk blinked stupidly. The question was just so incredibly stupid,

"What are you talking about?" he asked with a confused frown. His opponent's grin grew larger as he stopped spinning his Zanpakuto and simply held it tightly by the hilt,

"**And I'm not talking about obvious stuff…"** he announced firmly, **"Like one's an animal and one's a person. Or one has two legs and the other has four. Form, ability and power! If their form, ability and power are exactly the same then why is it that one becomes the king and leads them into battle while the other becomes the horse and carries the king? So what's the characteristic that distinguishes these two beings?"**

Starrk's eyes widened as a black and red Getsuga Tenshō began to build up in his bankai blade, the wild power running along the edge of the white blade with barely restrained energy and pure malicious intent. His eyes widened even further as his opponent suddenly appeared in front of him, slashing downward. Starrk brought his katana up to block in time but had to hold it with both hands to keep from having his own sword forced back on him,

"**There's only one answer…"** the 'Horse' told him in a deceptively calm voice before pulling back and slashing at him even harder, roaring out**, "INSTINCT!"**

Starrk swore loudly as another, unnamed Getsuga Tenshō added to the first one, increasing the pressure on his blade even more. Calling upon his own incredible strength, the Espada slashed his sword to the side with both hands, redirecting the mammoth blast into one of the hundreds of pillars around Las Noches. Immediately he brought his blade back up, barely catching the sword of his bleached out opponent. His eyes, usually half-lidded from laziness, opened wide as his opponent forced him back with the power of that one swing. Deciding to pull back, Starrk pushed on the air to jump backwards from his opponent. However, 'Horse' saw his tactic and reached out with his free hand faster than Starrk could react.

Horse grabbed hold of Starrk by his hair and pulled him closer again, faster than Starrk could react he slammed him knee into the Espada's gut. Starrk coughed up blood from the vicious knee strike as Horse swung him around by his hair, flinging him at the dome of Las Noches. Unable to correct his path fast enough, Starrk was forced to curl up slightly to reduce the impact. Unfortunately it did little good as his prone body smashed through the dome of Las Noches and sailed through the windless night sky.

Gritting his teeth, Starrk flipped upright, walking on the air again. He spat out another glob of blood. He hadn't tasted his own blood in Hueco Mundo since he had been a Hollow and this Inner Hollow had caused him to bleed internally, smashing that record. Now normally Starrk wasn't a big fan of charting your battles and records but he had been proud of that one. It was a testament to how lazy he was as much as he was a good fighter and he liked that about it. He lowered himself to the outer edge of the dome of Las Noches to wait for his opponent.

He didn't wait long.

Horse, as he liked to be called, erupted out of the stone just in front of Starrk, his blade already coming down in a vicious slash. Catching the blade with his own, Starrk kicked out with his right foot, kicking the pale man away from him by several feet. Without even a second's hesitation, Horse was upon him again, slashing down rapidly and repeatedly. Starrk gritted his teeth and blocked each attack, unable to go in for a counter attack without letting him get cut open. Starrk was beginning to sweat but Horse, on the other hand, just looked like he was enjoying it even more,

"In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain power, they need to develop a killer instinct!" he continued to lecture Starrk even as he slashed and hacked viciously at the Espada, "They must develop an insatiable hunger to engage in battle!"

With the last statement he punched Starrk in the jaw, sending the Espada spinning away. Recovering quickly, Starrk spun quickly in the air to kick Horse's blade to the side with a foot, slashing down with his own attack. Batting the sword away by hitting the flat of it, Horse rushed forwards again, slamming the hilt of his sword into Starrk's chest, sending the Espada reeling backwards. Horse capitalised on Starrk's momentary weakness and slashed at his chest. Starrk, his battle instincts telling him to move quickly, moved back just enough to avoid having his chest cavity torn in two. However he was unable to fully avoid the attack so he had taken a rather deep cut that ran from his left shoulder down to his right hip. Horse was relentless in his assault, attacking once again,

"**They must live to mercilessly crush, shred and slice their enemies!"** he cried out, all the while slashing and hacking at Starrk's defence**, "This thirst for power is not an unnatural desire… in fact it forms the very essence of our beings. Deep within our bodies lies the honed instinct to dominate and slaughter our enemies!"**

This seemed to be the end of the monologue and Starrk was rather surprised. It had started out as a defence of the Shinigami hybrid Kurosaki but it had seemingly turned into something meant to insult him. After all, the boy showed none of the instinct that Horse was talking about. By all accounts he was a reasonable and thoughtful person who's soft heart was a burden on the battlefield. Before he could comment however, he snapped back to his own battle just in time to catch a low powered cero to the chest.

Spinning wildly out of control, Starrk frowned and righted himself, sliding to a stop along the smooth stone of the dome. Horse wasn't grinning anymore and, quite frankly, that scared the shit out of Starrk. He was much happier when the creature in front of him was insane. He could deal with insane. Horse stood still, his sword pointed loosely at the ground,

"**King has that."** He said bluntly, and with a cold edge that creped Starrk out even more than his insane cackle. Horse paused, **"He used to use his brain to win a fight. And the simple matter was that it didn't work. He was weak. And then…"**

The sadistic grin was back, accompanied by a massive wave of killer intent, which waved over Starrk as if it were physical. Horse tightened his grip on his sword and there was a pulse of power. His sword was seemingly humming now, vibrating as it expressed its need for blood. Horse stared right into Starrk's eyes and even the veteran Espada felt a chill run down his spine,

"**Then he found his instincts."** He whispered, almost as if savouring the words he spoke, **"He found his instincts and when they work with his will to protect… there is no force in any world that can stop him. King is going to rip Aizen's still beating heart out and show it to him before cutting his fucking head off!"**

Horse growled happily, blood lust rolling off of him in waves,

"**Now release your sword and fight me!"** he demanded, **"Fight me or die!"**

Lilynette knew that Starrk needed her.

She could feel the tug at her very core, the tug she had only ever felt when Starrk wanted to release his Resurrection.

Apparently his opponent was strong enough for him to have to "kick about". She gave Gin Ichimaru a significant look and the traitorous former captain nodded in return. Holding out a hand to her, Gin used Shunpo as she took a hold of his hand firmly. Within a second they were on the top of the dome. Lilynette's eyes widened dramatically at the scene that awaited them and even Gin opened his eyes fractionally to show his surprise.

Both the Inner Hollow of Kurosaki Ichigo and Starrk were fighting. That was expected. What was not expected was the intensity with which they fought. The Inner Hollow was fighting with an unmatched intensity but Starrk was, surprisingly, fighting back with a scowl on his face. That, in itself, was unusual. Starrk didn't usually show any emotions other than boredom during a fight usually but he was looking seriously pissed off at the moment. But the strangest thing… the strangest thing was that Starrk was fighting with his full spiritual pressure, the air stifling as he saturated it with his power.

And that was just the power that wasn't be used up in his attacks. That was the spare power that was bleeding off of him in literal waves. Every time their swords clashed there was a wave of spiritual pressure that rushed over them. Lilynette was at a loss for words. She'd been with Starrk since their bodies had separated from each other but this was the first time she'd seen him actually putting his all into a fight. The other man, Horse, was just plain scary to the small Arrancar.

Horse slammed his sword into Starrk's blade harder than the Espada had anticipated and sent the Primera Espada flying backwards. Launching forwards like a predator springing onto his prey, Horse slashed and hacked rapidly at Starrk. The Arrancar scowled lightly, a radical facial expression for the lazy Primera, and counter-attacked, his own slashes blurring out of the visible spectrum. Several of the attacks connected, including one particularly vicious slash which severed Horse's left arm at the shoulder.

The two fighters broke apart.

Starrk visibly relaxed as he took note of the separated limb. Charging and firing a cero quickly, he vaporized the limb just in case his opponent had some way to reattach it. Lilynette, for her part, relaxed a lot more than Starrk. To her the fight was over now. Starrk would kill his opponent and be safe. What shocked them both was that Horse, who now only had his right arm, glanced at his stump of a left arm,

"**Ha. Oh. He. Hu. Ha."** He laughed in an exaggerated manner, his face blank. When he looked back at Starrk he was grinning madly again, **"IS THAT ALL?"**

Lilynette took a frightened step back to hide behind part of Gin's leg. Starrk's eyes narrowed dangerously and he gripped his sword tighter. Sinister reiatsu was pouring off of Horse in waves, red and black. Lilynette could feel the heat from the reiatsu as if it was actually flames. The stump of Horse's left arm began to bubble with a white substance. All of them knew what was happening but it was still somewhat surprising when a new left arm burst out of the stump. Horse flexed his newly regrown arm to demonstrate that it had a full range of movement. Starrk held his empty left hand out towards Lilynette,

"Lilynette." He called to her firmly. That tone of voice left no room for debate so she rushed to his side, letting his place a hand on her head. Lilynette closed her eyes in concentration as she began to give off a huge amount of blue reiatsu. Horse waited patiently. Suddenly, Lilynette disappeared and Starrk raised his voice for the first time, "Kick about! Los Lobos!"

Starrk himself was blanketed in blue reiatsu, obscuring him from view. Gin and Horse both grinned their creepy grins, both happy to see that the Primera was going to be fighting at full power. The blue reiatsu pillar exploded outwards in all directions, the huge amount of it becoming a physical weight on the shoulders of both Horse and Gin. Starrk stepped purposefully out of the smoke, transformed.

Unlike other Arrancar, Starrk's release was a very human shaped affair. He would have looked physically the same if not for the empty eye-patch he wore over one eye, just like Lilynette had done. His outfit had changed as well, grey fur growing along his legs, forearms and collar. But what was really different was that instead of a single sword, he now tightly held two ornate pistols. Horse grinned madly and went to charge head on again when Starrk raised his right pistol faster than either Horse or Gin had ever seen him move before. The blue cero that was shot from the gun was as fast as it was devastatingly powerful. Horse barely had time for his eyes to widen before the blast was on him.

Starrk watched with controlled happiness as his opponent was flung away with burns all over his body from his un-named cero. He'd been wanting to shut his opponent up for most of the fight and this was the perfect way to do it. Watching lazily as Horse struggled to his feet, Starrk frowned a little,

"Give up Horse." He told the self-named animal in his usual, lazy, tone, "You cannot win this fight anymore. Just give up and leave."

Horse gripped his sword tighter and scowled, a watery growl vibrating up from deep within his chest. Turning to Starrk, Horse held his left hand up over his right eye, dark reiatsu pooling at his fingertips. Starrk's eyes widened a little. He, like all of the Espada, had been told of the Kurosaki boy's hollow powers but he had, perhaps foolishly, believed that Horse was unable to grow in power. He had thought that Horse was the boy's hollow powers at their fullest. Horse pulled down with his left hand, solid white mask growing as his fingers past,

"**THINGS ARE JUST GETTING INTERESTING!"** he growled out loudly, his voice sounding even more like it was coming from underwater now. The mask was a simple thing. It was in the shape of a human skull but with sharper closed teeth, giving it a skeletal grin. Two black lines ran down the length of the mask, each going from the top of the mask to its chin. In the eyeholes two yellow eyes glared out at Starrk with sharpened resolve, **"I'LL CRUSH YOUR SKULL!"**

Starrk fired another cero, not really wanting to attempt to fight his opponent at close range with his increased strength and speed. His eyes widened dramatically and he threw himself out of the way however when a red cero over-powered his own blue one, tearing up the dome before flying away. It exploded in the distance in a bright display of red and black reiatsu. Starrk whipped to the left, bringing both pistols up and firing two massive blue cero blasts at Horse, who had just used shunpo to appear closer to him.

A watery scream of rage told him that he had hit horse at least a little bit. A black and red wave of energy, a Getsuga Tenshō, tore through both of Starrk's ceros to reveal a severely pissed off Horse stalking dangerously towards him. Starrk pointed both pistols at his opponent; he was seriously getting annoyed with his opponent now. He'd spent a lot of reiatsu during their straight up sword fight and the ceros from his pistols had been massively overpowered. It was amazing that his opponent wasn't dead to be honest. It just meant that he wanted to end this quickly,

"Cero Metralleta!" he barked out the name of his attack. Within a second, his pistols were firing cero after cero. Hundreds of smaller ceros fired from both guns, giving them a machine gun effect as the ceros all converged on Horse. For his part, Horse's eyes widened before he gritted his teeth and began building up a huge amount of his reiatsu up into his blade, holding it high above his head. Just as the mass of ceros were about to descend on him, Horse swung his sword down with all of his considerable might,

"**Getsuga Tenshō!"** he roared out, as if challenging Starrk's attack to beat his own.

The resulting explosion was colossal.

Both fighters were hit by their opponent's attacks head on and both of them had flown through the air to slam deep into some of the pillars which rose outside of Las Noches' dome. Gin watched the explosion with a happy grin, knowing that the fight wasn't over.

From one pillar, Starrk walked calmly out, albeit with a small hiss of pain. Along his chest, from his right shoulder to his right hip, the Getsuga Tenshō had marked him. The destructive moon fang had pierced his body, leaving a deep cut along his torso. The only reason he wasn't in the process of bleeding to death was that the attack had also burnt him with its rough reiatsu so his cut had been burnt closed. Wobbling weakly, Starrk lowered himself to the top of the dome again, focusing intently on the massive smoke cloud covering the second pillar from view,

"Did I get him?" he asked Gin without looking at him. He paused, "I don't think I did. He's too troublesome to be killed by such an attack."

Before Gin could answer, an angry pulse of reiatsu rang out from the area of the second pillar, sending the dust and smoke away quickly. There, standing atop the ruined pillar, was Horse.

His upper body seemed to have taken the brunt of Starrk's mass cero attack, his clothes were disintegrated above the waist and his pale skin was covered in reiatsu burns. He was bleeding from various places, his blood black and thick. But his mask was still stubbornly in place, even if it now only covered one eye. Without a word, Horse brought a hand up to his face again,

"**I'm sorry."** He told Starrk in an uncharacteristically serious tone of voice. Horse's fingertips burst alight with dark reiatsu and Starrk gripped his pistols tighter. Dragging his hand across his face again, Horse's mask not only reformed but it mutated as well. The top of the mask began to elongate, growing over his hair to form a mask that covered his entire head. Without warning his white hair grew down to his waist, flowing behind him in the breeze. The black lines ran up to the top of the skull shaped mask and there was a small pause, where nothing happened.

Suddenly, two horns burst out of the top of the mask to point menacingly at Starrk and Gin. The black lines grew down as well until they reached the centre of his chest. Once there the two lines merged into a circle. After a few seconds both Starrk and Gin realized that they could see right through the circle and that it was, in fact, a hollow hole. Both the Primera Espada and traitorous Shinigami Captain took a cautious step back.

When he had been revived through the use of Orihime's powers, Ulquiorra had told Aizen, Gin, Tosen and the other Espada about his defeat to Ichigo Kurosaki. From the boy's mask powers to Ulquiorra's own Segunda Etapa. The power of the second release had been demonstrated and all of the Espada agreed that he was even more powerful than Yammi's release. And his second release had been cut down, with careless ease, by the fully-hollowfied Ichigo Kurosaki. Aizen had warned all of them that if this form was to attack them they were to immediately go all out and try to overwhelm it as a group. Considering the already decimated ranks of the Espada, teaming up of this form was not an option. Even worse was that Starrk and Gin could both sense Ulquiorra bellow, his first release battling alongside Baraggan's release fighting against Ichigo Kurosaki.

The fearsome beast looked down at them from the ruined pillar before literally disappearing from sight. Both Espada and traitorous captain tensed before Horse appeared in front of them, a few metres away. It was then that Starrk noticed that Horse didn't have his sword with him. Horse seemed to notice his observation,

"**I don't need my sword."** He told the Espada simply, coldly. His voice was now nothing more than a watery growl, **"I meant what I said before. I'm sorry. I'm sorry our fight is over now. You see…"**

Horse disappeared again, reappearing only inches in front of Starrk. The Primera's eyes widened just before Horse sent him flying through the air with a vicious backhand to the face. Ignoring Gin completely, Horse began to charge a massive, red, cero between his horns, aiming at Starrk,

"**I can waste no more time with you."** He growled, his eyes noticeably narrowing beneath his mask, **"My King is calling on me."**

Starrk, disorientated from the backhand to his face, was too late to use sonido to escape as the red blast barreled dangerously towards him. Without hesitation, he threw both pistols away from him. If he was going to die he wasn't going to take Lilynette with him. He wasn't sure that she could survive without him existing as well but it was worth a try to him. He wanted the girl to live a life that he never could. A life with friends, a happy life.

It was oddly poetic; Starrk thought as the cero filled his entire world, that he should die as he lived.

Alone.

* * *

**Yo! **

**Nefieslab here.**

**I guess I'm back for a bit. A bit because collage is a pain in the ass and I spend a lot of time helping to run an RP site nowadays. Anyway, if anyone was actually waiting for this fight… here it is.**

**I was going to make it longer but I decided I couldn't be bothered. I know some of you will argue with me about how over-powered Hichigo (Horse) appears to be in this chapter but meh. And I know that Starrk would actually make a better showing against Full Hollow Hichigo but it's not over so don't fret.**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own anything used within this story except perhaps the plot I'm using, although it is probably heavily influenced by other writers.

Note: Here. Have another amazingly overhyped fight scene. There's plot in this thing somewhere… honest.

**Hollow – Let the skyfall, when it crumbles**

_Zanpakuto – We will stand tall_

Human/Shinigami/Arrancar – Face it all together

_**All – At skyfall, let the skyfall, we will stand tall, at skyfall**_

* * *

Skyfall

Baraggan had barely a second to react when Ichigo launched himself at the aged Espada. Tensa Zangetsu dug into Baraggan's mighty axe, a chip appearing in the silver metal of the Espada's Zanpakuto. Baraggan's eye widened slightly, immediately going to activate his time-altering abilities. Before he could do so however, Ichigo attacked, lashing out with a leg, hitting the Espada in the ribs with a bone-shattering kick that sent the Arrancar flying through the air before crashing into the stone wall.

The Espada picked himself out of the wall, nothing hurt but his pride. For an Espada who's aspect of death was pride this was a pretty serious injury though. Holding out a hand, the axe flew across the room to land in his hand with a meaty smack. What puzzled Baraggan was that Ichigo was just stood there, in a casual ready position, where he'd originally hit him. It was strange. Baraggan could feel the anger rolling off of the Shinigami in waves but he stood there as passive as water, unmoving and seemingly unfeeling.

Deciding to give the passive Shinigami something to be worried about, Baraggan fired off a cero from his right pointer finger. As the red doom blast flew towards the Shinigami with incredible speed, Baraggan scowled to himself as he watched the orange haired Shinigami just… looking at him. The Shinigami wasn't even blinking, or looking at the cero, he was just staring at him. Such cool and calm anger and focus annoyed Baraggan to no end. Baraggan, a hollow who had clawed his way to the top of the heap through animalistic fury and rage, hated calm enemies. How was his opponent to be the strongest he could be if he didn't let his rage fuel his attacks? To be calm during battle, to Baraggan, was to offer the insult of barely trying.

Baraggan's lone eye widened in shock when, instead of dodging the cero or blocking it, Ichigo merely batted it away with a hand. The Shinigami raised his hand, showing Baraggan the unblemished skin where his attack had contacted. He would never admit it but that cero had been one of his most powerful attacks when in his unreleased state. And, annoyingly, the Shinigami had not been foolish enough to come close enough to be affected by his time-slowing powers. Apparently he had some prior knowledge of his abilities. Probably from that accursed captain, the short one with the fat vice-captain. He sneered,

"Is that all you can do Shinigami?" he taunted the boy, hoping to anger the Shinigami into attacking. That way Baraggan could use his abilities to completely negate the boy's impressive speed and strength, "All you can do is keep your distance. To defend. You and I both know that you can't attack me."

There was silence in the meeting hall for a few moments as Baraggan noticed, for the first time, that the remaining Espada and traitorous captains were watching this fight with keen eyes. If he could take down this brat that perhaps Aizen would reward him with the top spot in the Espada. Lord knows he deserved it a thousand times more than that Starrk-brat. And if he was the top Espada… it would only be a matter of time before he took down Aizen himself. A Shinigami did not deserve to be the king of hollows! It was a mockery and he would not…

Baraggan's lone eye widened when his front erupted in blood, his naturally thick skin somehow parting like water in the face of the Shinigami child's attack against him. Reeling backwards, the Espada's eye widened yet more when he realized that the boy had been mere inches in front of him, his black blade now dripping with the Espada's blood. Apparently the boy's speed was enough in this form that he was able to sneak up on an, admittedly, distracted Baraggan through the time-slowing field.

And yet, infuriatingly, Ichigo was still looking entirely impassive. Even as he flicked his sword, flicking Baraggan's blood down onto the stone floor, Ichigo's cold brown eyes never wavered. Baraggan gripped his axe tighter,

"Stop mocking me!" he roared, hating how the Shinigami looked at him with the same arrogant ease that he had before, "Stop mocking me with those damned eyes of yours! You are nothing! You are dust before me! I will grind you away with the power of time!"

Using sonido, Baraggan appeared closer to Ichigo, his arm raised high as he brought his axe down at the orange haired boy in a savage swing. The black blade of Tensa Zangetsu blocked his axe cold and another crack appeared in the silver metal. Growling in frustration, Baraggan swung from the side, focusing more power into slowing down time around him. Ichigo's response was noticeably slower than it had been before but even so Baraggan was realized too late what the hybrid had planned,

"Sho."

The kido spell, the lowest powered offensive spell if Baraggan remembered correctly, slammed into the aged Arrancar's stomach like the strongest of kicks. Before he could retaliate, Ichigo repeated himself,

"Sho."

Baraggan spat up some blood as this spell slammed into his unprotected stomach area, no doubt rupturing his stomach or other organs. He swung his axe blindly, his time disrupting ability faltering under the assault. Ichigo ducked under the attack and pressed his each fingertip of his right handed fingers against the Espada's stomach. Baraggan's eye widened as he caught onto what the Shinigami had planned,

"Sho."

All four fingertips fired the kido this time, sending Baraggan flying backwards across the room as the impact was increased. As Baraggan skidded across the stone floor, slamming into the remains of the wooden meeting table, Ichigo raised his sword high above his head,

"Getsuga…" the orange haired teen began. Black and red flame-like spiritual power began to coat the black blade and Baraggan felt a very human shiver run down his spine. Baraggan knew there was only one way he would stop this attack, the boy was over-powering him at every turn. And Baraggan hated to be beaten. He hated it more than anything in the world, even more than the wrath of Aizen. And that meant that there was one thing that he could do. He gripped his axe tightly and held it out, building his own spiritual power for his release.

Before he could release though a pale hand stopped him.

Looking up, Baraggan scowled at not only Ulquiorra but Tosen and Nnoitra standing around him. The fourth Espada looked at him with an impassive face so very like that of the Shinigami boy that it angered the second Espada to no end. Before any words could be exchanged, the Shinigami boy attacked,

"Tenshō!"

As the black and red energy sped towards them, the four fighters readied themselves to block the attack and counter attack, their blades all rose at the ready. What they were not ready for was the sheer size of the wave of energy racing towards them. Immediately Tosen activated his shikai and Nnoitra released his sword to assume his hollow form, being the only present Espada who was permitted to do so under the dome of Las Noches.

* * *

Ichigo knew that the combined might of three Espada and Tosen would be enough to stop his Getsuga, even if he had super-charged the attack with the intention of getting enough energy through the second Espada's time field to do serious damage to the old Arrancar. Gripping his sword tighter as the attack exploded, Ichigo gritted his teeth together as he pushed his will into keeping his anger under control.

It was so difficult though. That Espada, that creature, was the reason why Yuzu and Karin were dead, the reason why he had failed in his task as a big brother. He was the big brother. He came first because it was his job to protect them. It was his duty god-damn it!

His control cracked a little bit and his spiritual power fluctuated, going from tightly condensed and controlled to a burning and towering inferno in seconds. The stone floor around him began to crack, the cracks spreading and growing from where he was standing. The memories that were not his own called to him, urging him to pull back his power. It was dangerous to those around him, it told him, and such a power was great enough that if he let it run wild with his anger then it would disintegrate those around him. While he didn't give a rat's ass about the lives of the Espada or the traitorous captains, Orihime was in the room right now.

So, as the smoke from his attack cleared, Ichigo found his centre, feeling as if he had done this a million times, and pulled him power back into himself. He closed his eyes to better centre himself when he felt the first attack coming. Reacting without even opening his eyes, he spun to the left, bringing Tensa Zangetsu up to protect from a high slash.

When he opened his eyes it was to the sight of sparks flying as his black blade clashed against Ulquiorra's calm silver sword. Apparently the fourth Espada had launched himself at Ichigo from the smoke, thinking he was distracted. Before the Espada could react, Ichigo kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying away from him. Even as he was bringing his foot down, Ichigo was acting as he sensed another attack approaching him, his instincts in full swing now.

Dozens of swords came flying at him from his right side, the effect of Tosen's shikai if his memory implants served him right. Batting each blade away from him with the casual speed that his bankai gave him, Ichigo's eyes widened fractionally when a large crescent-moon shaped blade descended on him from his left. Diving backwards, Ichigo was able to not only dodge the first crescent blade but also the second, third and fourth. All of them followed Ichigo's projected path, the fourth one almost cutting his feet off.

Even as he rolled to his feet he was forced to defend himself, bringing his sword up to block the attempt to cleave him in two that the second Espada had made. He pushed back against Baraggan's axe, pushing the Espada backwards, but before he could capitalize his back erupted in pain. Spinning around, he was able to get his attacker back, cutting Tosen's face from cheek bone to chin.

Another slash to his back made Ichigo growl in anger and pain, Ulquiorra speeding past him after the success of his hit-and-run attack. Out of the smoke Nnoitra emerged, all four crescent blades held high above his head, ready to descend on Ichigo. Swearing, Ichigo slashed to his right, parrying Baraggan's blade even as all four crescent blades came swinging down towards him. Batting one away with his bare hand, Ichigo moved slightly to the left to avoid a second one, a third one throwing dust up in his face as it crushed stone. The final blade was aimed directly at his head and Ichigo acted on instinct again, thrusting his left pointer finger at the blade,

"Sho!"

The pulse of spiritual energy forced the blade back with so much force that Nnoitra stumbled, trying to avoid his own blade being sent back at him. Ulquiorra erupted out of a burst of sonido, a cero building on his fingertip. Ichigo spun round gripping Baraggan's axe tightly, using it to throw the second Espada in the path of the doom blast even as the aging field blistered and burnt his hand. Ulquiorra was unable to stop his attack in time and the cero exploded against Baraggan, sending the aged Espada flying across the room as he screamed in agony.

Hoping to take advantage of this temporary lack of an opponent, Ichigo fired off a nameless Getsuga Tenshō at Ulquiorra, only to have the attack disrupted by a defensive kido shield set up by Tosen, who was standing on the air above. Recognizing the kido too late that the traitor was firing at him,

"Raikoho!" Tosen declared, a bright yellow energy speeding its way towards Ichigo. The substitute Shinigami gripped his sword tightly and disappeared with a flash step, appearing behind Tosen with a dark scowl. The blind Shinigami turned to face Ichigo before his face twisted in shock, just as Ichigo's attack became apparent, Tosen's left arm falling to the ground, cut from the elbow down. Before the traitor could do anything, Ichigo spun in the air, slamming his foot into the blind man's head, sending his spiraling to the ground where the stone floor was unforgiving.

Once again though, Ichigo was given no time to recover as Ulquiorra flashed into existence beside him, the dull thump of sonido being the only warning Ichigo received. The sizzling sound that followed was the charged cero being pressed against Ichigo's back, searing the skin,

"Grand Ray Cero."

The cero erupted, the explosion growing in size incredibly from the small charged ball of spiritual power. Even with all his speed, Ichigo was unable to escape such an attack from point blank range. He was forced downwards, the cero burning the skin of his back all the way before it drove him, face first, into the stone. The stone around Ichigo began to break up under the intense explosion even as the Shinigami pulled his spiritual power to his skin, protecting him from the worst of the blast.

Nnoitra, confident that Ichigo was distracted at the very least, raised his four blades ready to bring them down and quarter the Shinigami. Before he could do so however Ichigo rolled over onto his back, raising his palm to show a bright red ball of spiritual power built up there. Nnoitra's eye widened in understanding and fear and he rushed to bring his weapons down to kill Ichigo before it was too late.

It was too late.

The cero burst forth from Ichigo's hand with even more power than the Grand Ray Cero that Ulquiorra had hit him with. And at such a short range Nnoitra was unable to move himself completely out of the way before he was hit. Screaming in raw agony, the left half of Nnoitra's body disappeared in a red mist, both of his left arms being destroyed. Even as Nnoitra grew two new arms, Ichigo was attacking,

"Getsuga Tenshō!" he roared, swinging his blade down, the black and red wave of destructive energy coming at Nnoitra right down the middle. The fifth Espada had only a second to scream before it was over, both halves of him falling in opposite directions. Ichigo gritted his teeth against the pain he was feeling. After all, his back had been sliced up and had a freaking Grand Ray Cero shoved into it. He was beginning to flag, the top half of his bankai outfit completely burnt away to indicate that he had used up a large amount of his power.

Turning, he raised Tensa Zangetsu in a loose ready position as Ulquiorra, Baraggan and Tosen all appeared across the room from him, nursing their own injuries. Baraggan was mostly healed though and although Tosen was bleeding he was still battle ready. Annoyingly, Ulquiorra had regenerated and all the damage done to him was completely gone. Ichigo had tried his best to avoid using his mask but there was nothing for it, these fighters were just too strong for him to take down with nothing but his bankai. As he held his free hand over one side of his face, readying himself to slash down with his fingers and make his mask, he saw Ulquiorra hold his sword out, the same with Baraggan. Tosen was a surprise though… he mimicked Ichigo, holding hand across his face as if to draw a hollow mask.

Ichigo pulled his hand across his face, dark hollow energies building as he did so.

Tosen pulled his own hand down, hollow energy spreading across his whole body and not just his face.

"Rot; Arrogante!"

"Bind; Murciélago."

The entire meeting room exploded with dark energies from four separate sources as the spiritual pressure in the room reached crushing heights. Immediately the walls began to shake and fall as four of the strongest beings under the dome of Las Noches began to put out simply staggering levels of power. Even the dome of Las Noches itself, high above them, began to shake and sections of it began to fall, heavy stone falling from the sky to crush entire buildings below.

* * *

Tensa Zangetsu, the manifested spirit, paused as his attack faded into nothing before it could reached the third Espada, leaving her alive. He frowned a little bit as he relaxed slightly, stepping back from the wounded Arrancar,

"_Ichigo calls upon my power more every second."_ He told Harribel by way of explanation, _"I cannot afford to waste any more time fighting you."_

Angry at being snubbed so blatantly, Harribel raised a fist and fired off a Bala at the Zanpakuto spirit, the hollow bullet speeding towards the dark haired teenager. Tensa Zangetsu spun around, knocking the condensed spiritual power to the ground, the Bala detonating harmlessly against the stone floor. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before Tensa Zangetsu once again moved to walk away, infuriating Harribel,

"Sword!" she shouted, "I demand that you come back here! Face me sword! I will not die like an animal! I will not be killed by my wounds! Finish me like a warrior!"

Tensa Zangetsu turned to the blond Espada and regarded her weakened form impassively for a few moments. He gripped his blade tighter and for a moment Harribel briefly thought that he was going to grant her wish and finish her rather than leave her wounded like this. Instead the spirit just shook his head,

"_No."_

Harribel's mouth moved soundlessly. No? He was just going to leave her down her in the depths of Las Noches to bleed out slowly? To be eaten even by the weakest of hollows as her strength left her? She gritted her teeth in frustration,

"Why not?" she demanded, "To protect that human girl like you and your master want you must kill me! Or else I will drag myself to her… even in my weakened state snapping her neck would be easy!"

The spirit stopped for a moment and merely turned his head slightly,

"_That argument will have no effect on my Arrancar."_

Tears stinging at her eyes at the prospect of dying such a pitiful death, no glory and no sacrifice, Harribel gripped her shark-tooth blade as tightly as she could. Her grip was still pitiful though,

"Why not?" she demanded weakly, "Your master wants to protect this girl!"

Tensa Zangetsu looked at her seriously, his eyes cold but at the same time brimming with emotion,

"_What Ichigo wants to protect and what I want to protect… are not the same."_ He declared finally, _"I will protect him no matter the cost. All others are of no concern to me."_

* * *

The Cero that had been barrelling towards Starrk faster than his faster sonido suddenly disappeared. Starrk blinked in confusion as he looked up at his opponent. Horse, as the creature called himself, was stood in the air with his head cocked to one side as if he could hear something that Starrk himself could not hear. The demonic mask turned to regard Starrk with those cold, dead, eyes. His opponent regarded him silently for a few seconds and Starrk had the unmistakable feeling that he was being judged, being assessed.

Apparently he was judged as not being worth the effort it would take to kill him because his opponent turned on his heel and started to walk away from him. Starrk was not a traditional hollow by any stretch but being blatantly ignored stung his pride more than he thought it would. Enough even for him to pull himself to his feet, his one gun gripped tightly in his hand as his other, Lilynette, was still a good few feet away from him,

"What's the matter Horse?" he asked his opponent, using sonido to stand in the air a few yards in front of the pale spirit, "I thought you were going to kill me because your King needed your help?"

The masked face turned to regard him with an almost casual air. Starrk had to admit that this hollow was stronger than he was but that didn't mean he couldn't kill it if push came to shove. He still had some tricks up his sleeves after all. His opponent snorted, moving past him at a brisk walking pace,

"_**Why don't you just go lie down old man?"**_ Horse suggested with more than a little bit of disgust in his voice, _**"You are unfit to grace the battlefield."**_

Starrk flinched as if slapped. Now that was an insult that even an Arrancar as lazy as Starrk could feel greatly angered by. He might not train every second of every day like some other Espada but that didn't mean he was totally useless, as Horse was implying. He gripped his gun tighter and considered turning and firing at the other hollow while his back was turned but thought better of it. As Starrk lowered his gun again he turned away from Horse,

"We will meet again Horse." He promised the pale spirit with uncharacteristic seriousness, "And when we do I shall show you that I have earned my place at the top through battle."

Horse paused for a moment and Starrk had to blink a few times to make sure that he wasn't seeing thing. The pale spirit was beginning to dissolve or something, parts of him were disappearing from the feet upwards. After a moment's silence, Horse reached up to his mask, lifting it slightly to have it rest on his head. He smirked slightly as his neck began to disappear too,

"_**I look forward to it."**_

* * *

_**I decided to rush this out :P**_

_**Could you tell? XD**_

_**Someone had the stones to call me on my complete lack of updates... and you know what? I bloody well needed it XD**_

_**So :P**_

_**Yet another promise from me to try to update more often :P**_

_**Hopefully I stick to it this time XD**_


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